ACC: Rosouvastin (Crestor) Slows Subclinical Atherosclerosis Progression

NEW ORLEANS, March 26 -- Subclinical carotid atherosclerosis appeared to slow down when patients took high-dose rosuvastatin (Crestor), researchers reported here.

But although there was measurable slowing of carotid intima-media thickness, as determined by ultrasound, there was no evidence of disease regression, said John R. Crouse III, M.D., of Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, N.C., principal investigator of the METEOR trial, at the American College of Cardiology meeting.

The results of the two-year multicenter METEOR (Measuring Effects on Intima-Media Thickness: an Evaluation of Rosuvastatin), which randomized 984 patients to 40 mg of rosuvastatin or placebo daily, were published simultaneously online by the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Compared with placebo patients, those taking rosuvastatin had a mean 49% reduction of LDLs (P

Overall, the 624 rosuvastatin patients had a combined regression from baseline of 0.0014 mm/year, an insignificant difference compared with baseline. The placebo patients had an increase in carotid artery plaque of 0.0131 mm/years. The difference between the two arms achieved statistical significance (P