Last Updated: 2007-04-02 14:32:26 -0400 (Reuters Health)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - In patients at high risk for cardiovascular disease, adding ezetimibe (Zetia) to rosuvastatin (Crestor) appears to increase the likelihood of achieving a recommended LDL-cholesterol level, new research suggests.

The EXamination of Potential Lipid-modifying effects Of Rosuvastatin in combination with Ezetimibe versus Rosuvastatin alone (EXPLORER) study involved 469 patients who were randomized to receive rosuvastatin 40 mg with or without ezetimibe 10 mg for 6 weeks.

The main endpoint was the percentage of subjects who achieved the Adult Treatment Panel (ATP) III LDL-cholesterol goal of <100 mg/dL, lead author Dr. Christie M. Ballantyne, from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, and colleagues note. In addition, the researchers looked at the percentage of very high risk patients who achieved the optional LDL cholesterol goal of <70 mg/dL.

The new findings appear in the American Journal of Cardiology for March 1.

Ninety-four percent of combination therapy patients achieved the ATP III goal compared with 79.1% of monotherapy patients (p < 0.001). The difference between combination and monotherapy was even more pronounced for the percentage of patients achieving the optional LDL cholesterol goal: 79.6% vs. 35.0% (p < 0.001).

The findings also indicate that combination therapy provided significantly greater improvements in other lipid measures compared with monotherapy.

Both treatment regimens were well tolerated and the most frequent side effects with each were myalgia, nausea, increased liver enzymes, and angina pectoris.

"Rosuvastatin plus ezetimibe may improve the management of high-risk patients who cannot achieve (their LDL cholesterol) goal on maximal statin monotherapy," the Dr. Ballantyne and her associates conclude.

Am J Cardiol 2007;99:673-680.