BACKGROUND: Carotid intimal-medial thickness (CIMT) as measured by B-mode ultrasonography is a surrogate marker for carotid atherosclerosis. Studies have found conflicting results for the effect of statins on carotid atherosclerosis progression by measuring CIMT. Hence, this meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the impact of statin therapy on CIMT progression. METHODS: A systematic search using PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane library databases was performed. Heterogeneity of the studies was analyzed by the Cochran Q statistics. The significance of common treatment effect was assessed by computing common mean difference between the control and treatment groups. A 2-sided alpha error of less than 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. RESULTS: In all, 11 trials (N = 3806) fulfilled the criteria for inclusion in the analysis. The study population included 67.2% males and 22.8% females. The mean age was 58.7 years. Treatment with statins (mean treatment duration of 25.6 months) resulted in a significant reduction in the mean low-density lipoprotein ([LDL]; mg/dL, before treatment 168.6 ± 33.3, after treatment 102.33 ± 27.9, P < .05). No significant changes in the levels of LDL cholesterol were noted in the control group. A total of 7 trials showed regression and 4 trials showed slowing of progression of CIMT. Pooled analysis of all 11 trials showed that there was a statistically significant benefit with statin therapy in slowing down the progression of CIMT and the common mean difference between statin therapy arm and placebo arm was -0.040 (CI: -0.052--0.028; P value < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Statins therapy slows down the progression of carotid atherosclerosis as measured by CIMT, indicating benefits at subclinical stage of the disease process.
BACKGROUND: Carotid intimal-medial thickness (CIMT) as measured by B-mode ultrasonography is a surrogate marker for carotid atherosclerosis. Studies have found conflicting results for the effect of statins on carotid atherosclerosis progression by measuring CIMT. Hence, this meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the impact of statin therapy on CIMT progression. METHODS: A systematic search using PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane library databases was performed. Heterogeneity of the studies was analyzed by the Cochran Q statistics. The significance of common treatment effect was assessed by computing common mean difference between the control and treatment groups. A 2-sided alpha error of less than 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. RESULTS: In all, 11 trials (N = 3806) fulfilled the criteria for inclusion in the analysis. The study population included 67.2% males and 22.8% females. The mean age was 58.7 years. Treatment with statins (mean treatment duration of 25.6 months) resulted in a significant reduction in the mean low-density lipoprotein ([LDL]; mg/dL, before treatment 168.6 ± 33.3, after treatment 102.33 ± 27.9, P < .05). No significant changes in the levels of LDL cholesterol were noted in the control group. A total of 7 trials showed regression and 4 trials showed slowing of progression of CIMT. Pooled analysis of all 11 trials showed that there was a statistically significant benefit with statin therapy in slowing down the progression of CIMT and the common mean difference between statin therapy arm and placebo arm was -0.040 (CI: -0.052--0.028; P value < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Statins therapy slows down the progression of carotid atherosclerosis as measured by CIMT, indicating benefits at subclinical stage of the disease process.
Authors: James F Meschia; Cheryl Bushnell; Bernadette Boden-Albala; Lynne T Braun; Dawn M Bravata; Seemant Chaturvedi; Mark A Creager; Robert H Eckel; Mitchell S V Elkind; Myriam Fornage; Larry B Goldstein; Steven M Greenberg; Susanna E Horvath; Costantino Iadecola; Edward C Jauch; Wesley S Moore; John A Wilson Journal: Stroke Date: 2014-10-28 Impact factor: 7.914
Authors: Martin Bahls; Nele Friedrich; Dorothee Atzler; Stephan B Felix; Matthias A Nauck; Rainer H Böger; Henry Völzke; Edzard Schwedhelm; Marcus Dörr Journal: PLoS One Date: 2015-06-22 Impact factor: 3.240
Authors: Margareta Ring; Maria J Eriksson; Tomas Fritz; Gunnar Nyberg; Claes Göran Östenson; Anna Krook; Juleen R Zierath; Kenneth Caidahl Journal: Diab Vasc Dis Res Date: 2015-06-19 Impact factor: 3.291
Authors: Marcello Casaccia Bertoluci; Rodrigo Oliveira Moreira; André Faludi; Maria Cristina Izar; Beatriz D Schaan; Cynthia Melissa Valerio; Marcelo Chiara Bertolami; Ana Paula Chacra; Marcus Vinicius Bolivar Malachias; Sérgio Vencio; José Francisco Kerr Saraiva; Roberto Betti; Luiz Turatti; Francisco Antonio Helfenstein Fonseca; Henrique Tria Bianco; Marta Sulzbach; Adriana Bertolami; João Eduardo Nunes Salles; Alexandre Hohl; Fábio Trujilho; Eduardo Gomes Lima; Marcio Hiroshi Miname; Maria Teresa Zanella; Rodrigo Lamounier; João Roberto Sá; Celso Amodeo; Antonio Carlos Pires; Raul D Santos Journal: Diabetol Metab Syndr Date: 2017-07-14 Impact factor: 3.320