A one -Year Multicenter Study of Simvastatin in the Treatment of Hypercholesterolemia

A 1-year prospective study was conducted in 475 hypercholesterolaemic men and women who received simvastatin monotherapy 10-40 mg daily for 3 months followed by additional lipid-lowering medication after this period, if necessary, to reach a target of plasma cholesterol <5.3 mmol/l. Of these, 403 subjects completed 1 year of follow-up. By the end of the 3-month monotherapy period, the following percentage mean changes were seen (with 95% confidence intervals): total cholesterol (TC) -31% (-30 to -32%), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol -39% (-38 to -40%), triglycerides -14% (-11 to -17%) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol +12% (+11 to +14%). These levels were maintained for the remainder of the study. When subjects with a baseline TC of 6.5-7.8 mmol/l were considered (n=89), 42.7% achieved the target TC levels on simvastatin monotherapy alone. Additional hypolipidaemic medication had no Significant impact on plasma lipid and lipoprotein levels. Simvastatin was well tolerated both as monotherapy and in combination.