Statin therapy that includes evolocumab can help patients with stable atherosclerosis decrease their risk of undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) or coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), according to a new study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
The authors tracked data from more than 1,700 patients with stable atherosclerosis who participated in the FOURIER trial, a randomized study that assessed evolocumab by comparing it with a placebo. All patients were followed for a median of 2.2 years.
More than 1,400 patients underwent PCI, nearly 300 underwent CABG and another 54 underwent both PCI and CABG. Complex revascularization was required in 37% of patients, and evolocumab reduced the risk of any revascularization by 22%. The risk of complex revascularization, meanwhile, was reduced by 29%.
Also, the patient’s risk of undergoing simple PCI was reduced by 22%, and their risk of undergoing CABG was reduced by 24%.
In addition, the team added, the risk reduction for these patients appeared to increase as time went on.
“While the relationship between complex coronary revascularization and subsequent outcomes is to some degree confounded by underlying patient substrate, averting the need for more invasive, longer, and more complex procedures has obvious clinical benefits,” wrote lead author Kazuma Oyama, MD, PhD, Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, and colleagues. “Furthermore, reduction in the need for complex revascularization procedures may have important economic implications.”
The full study is available here.
Michael has more than 16 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.