PCSK9 Inhibitors Might Benefit Patients with LDL-C Level <70 mg/dL

In patients with very-high-risk atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, current guidelines recommend adding a nonstatin medication to statin therapy if low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) equals or exceeds 70 mg/dL. To evaluate whether there is benefit to adding alirocumab — a proprotein convertase subtilisin–kexin type 9 (PCSK9) inhibitor — to statin treatment in patients with LDL-C levels below 70 mg/dL, investigators performed a post hoc analysis of the ODYSSEY Outcomes trial in patients with recent acute coronary syndrome (NEJM JW Cardiol Feb 2019 and N Engl J Med 2018; 379:2097).

Among 14,573 patients with LDL-C ≥70 mg/dL (median, 94.0 mg/dL), those who received alirocumab had a significant reduction in risk for major adverse co…