Achieving 2003 European lipid goals with rosuvastatin and comparator statins in 6743 patients in real-life clinical practice: DISCOVERY meta-analysis analysis

Abstract

Background: There is an increasing body of evidence to support the benefits of reducing low-density lipoprotein cholesterol ( LDL- C) levels and this has been reflected in a lowering of LDL- C goals recommended by international guidelines. Therefore, there is a growing need for effective lipid-modifying therapies to optimise the achievement of these more stringent LDL- C goals.Objective: A meta-analysis of data pooled from five studies participating in the DISCOVERY ( DIrect Statin COmparison of LDL- C Values: an Evaluation of Rosuvastatin therapY) Programme was performed to compare the effect of rosuvastatin treatment with other statins in real-life clinical practice.Results: These studies included 6743 patients with hypercholesterolaemia from different ethnicities, countries and cultural environments. the meta-analysis showed that significantly more patients receiving rosuvastatin 10 mg achieved the 2003 European LDL- C goals compared with those who received atorvastatin 10 mg or simvastatin 20 mg ( p < 0.001 for both comparisons). A significantly greater proportion of patients receiving rosuvastatin 10 mg also achieved the 2003 European total cholesterol goal compared with those on atorvastatin 10 mg ( p < 0.001).Conclusions: the meta-analysis showed that rosuvastatin was more effective than comparator statins at lowering LDL- C levels and enabling patients to achieve lipid goals at recommended start doses. in addition, all statins studied were well tolerated and confirmed that rosuvastatin had a similar safety profile to other statins.