Early Intensive vs a Delayed Conservative Simvastatin Strategy in Patients With Acute Coronary Syndromes

Abstract

Long-term therapy with statin drugs has been shown to reduce the risk for death, myocardial infarction (MI), and stroke among patients with established coronary artery disease, even when low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels are not elevated.^1-4 Most of the landmark clinical trials evaluating statins for secondary prevention enrolled patients who were stable for at least several months after an index acute coronary syndrome (ACS) event.^1-3 More recently, 2 randomized controlled trials have evaluated earlier initiation of statin therapy following an ACS event and have noted a corresponding early reduction in major cardiovascular events.^5,6