Benefits and Safety of Cholesterol Lowering in Older Adults

A prespecified secondary analysis of IMPROVE-IT shows that elderly patients are most likely to benefit from intensive lipid lowering after an acute coronary event.

Limited data document the benefits and safety of intensive lipid lowering in adults aged ≥75, who are often underrepresented in clinical trials. In 2015, IMPROVE-IT Trial investigators (NEJM JW Cardiol Jul 2015 and N Engl J Med 2015; 372:2387), comparing intensive lipid lowering with a 40-mg simvastatin–10-mg ezetimibe combination versus 40-mg simvastatin monotherapy in 18,144 patients after an acute coronary event (mean age, 64; age ≥75, 15%), found better reductions in LDL and a reduction of adverse cardiovascular disease (CVD) events with combined treatment across all age groups.

This prespecified secondary analysis comparing results across age groups showed that the primary composite endpoint (CVD death, major adverse cardiac event, and …

Reviewing Author

Fatima Rodriguez, MD, MPH, FACC, FAHA

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardNovoNordisk; HealthPals; Novartis; Amgen

EquityHealthPals; Carta

Grant/Research SupportNational Institutes of Health/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; American Heart Association–Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

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