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type=\u0022text\/css\u0022 rel=\u0022stylesheet\u0022 href=\u0022\/\/d282kpwvnogo5m.cloudfront.net\/sites\/default\/files\/advagg_css\/css__ce2QY63WIanKyr8eSq7eavr1XQRRmFD6ZSmwpyJi8lM__zXwFqpqmxrZOXXcd_TpBQpjuELbmIP9wBR5UuTDWAO4__YJWWMMdfCJuAFm5cUEp88OsodhO3ZA-2lzRfoBsSlk4.css\u0022 media=\u0022all\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003Clink rel=\u0027stylesheet\u0027 type=\u0027text\/css\u0027 href=\u0027\/sites\/all\/modules\/contrib\/panels\/plugins\/layouts\/onecol\/onecol.css\u0027 \/\u003E\u003C\/head\u003E\u003Cbody\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022panels-ajax-tab-panel panels-ajax-tab-panel-sageoa-tab-art\u0022\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022panel-display panel-1col clearfix\u0022 \u003E\n  \u003Cdiv class=\u0022panel-panel panel-col\u0022\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022panel-pane pane-highwire-markup\u0022 \u003E\n  \n      \n  \n  \u003Cdiv class=\u0022pane-content\u0022\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022highwire-markup\u0022\u003E\u003Cdiv xmlns=\u0022http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xhtml\u0022 id=\u0022content-block-markup\u0022 xmlns:xhtml=\u0022http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xhtml\u0022\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022article fulltext-view \u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022highwire-journal-article-marker-start\u0022\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022section abstract\u0022 id=\u0022abstract-1\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003ESummary\u003C\/h2\u003E\n            \u003Cp id=\u0022p-1\u0022\u003EThe ASTEROID study (A Study To Evaluate the Effect of Rosuvastatin on Intravascular Ultrasound-Derived Coronary Atheroma Burden [ASTEROID] Trial) demonstrated, for the first time, that very intensive cholesterol lowering with a statin drug can partially reverse the buildup of plaque in the coronary arteries. This finding has never before been observed in a study using statin drugs, the most commonly used cholesterol lowering treatment. Previous research had indicated that intensive statin therapy could prevent the progression of coronary atherosclerosis, or arterial plaque build-up, but not actually reduce disease burden.\u003C\/p\u003E\n         \u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cul class=\u0022kwd-group\u0022\u003E\u003Cli class=\u0022kwd\u0022\u003Eclinical trials\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli class=\u0022kwd\u0022\u003Elipids\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022section\u0022 id=\u0022sec-1\u0022\u003E\n         \n         \u003Cp id=\u0022p-2\u0022\u003EThe ASTEROID study (A Study To Evaluate the Effect of Rosuvastatin on Intravascular Ultrasound-Derived Coronary Atheroma Burden [ASTEROID] Trial) demonstrated, for the first time, that very intensive cholesterol lowering with a statin drug can partially reverse the buildup of plaque in the coronary arteries. This finding has never before been observed in a study using statin drugs, the most commonly used cholesterol lowering treatment. Previous research had indicated that intensive statin therapy could prevent the progression of coronary atherosclerosis, or arterial plaque build-up, but not actually reduce disease burden.\u003C\/p\u003E\n         \u003Cp id=\u0022p-3\u0022\u003EThe trial was conducted at 53 community and tertiary care centers in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia. A total of 507 patients had baseline intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) examination and received 40 mg daily of rosuvastatin. Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) provides a precise and reproducible method for determining change in plaque, or atheroma, burden during treatment. Atherosclerosis progression was assessed at baseline and after 24 months of treatment.\u003C\/p\u003E\n         \u003Cp id=\u0022p-4\u0022\u003EThe intense statin therapy used in this study resulted in significant regression of atherosclerosis as measured by IVUS, a technique in which a tiny ultrasound probe is inserted into the coronary arteries to quantify plaque. The study showed that therapy resulted in regression occurred for all three pre-specified IVUS measures of disease burden. The mean baseline LDL cholesterol of 130.4 mg\/dL decreased to 60.8 mg\/dL in the study patients, a reduction of 53.2 percent. This is the largest reduction in cholesterol ever observed in a major statin outcome trial. Mean HDL cholesterol (43.1 mg\/dL at baseline) increased to 49.0 mg\/dL, a 14.7 percent increase, which was also unprecedented. The arterial plaque burden was reduced by 6.8 to 9.1% for the various measures of disease burden.\u003C\/p\u003E\n         \u003Cp id=\u0022p-5\u0022\u003E\u201cPrevious similar studies with statins have shown slowing of coronary disease, but not regression. This regimen significantly lowered bad cholesterol, and surprisingly, markedly increased good cholesterol levels,\u201d said Steven Nissen, M.D., F.A.C.C., of the Cleveland Clinic and lead author of the study. Dr. Nissen is also President-Elect of the American College of Cardiology. \u201cWe conclude that very low LDL levels (below current guidelines), when accompanied by raised HDL, can regress, or partially reverse, the plaque buildup in the coronary arteries.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\n         \u003Cp id=\u0022p-6\u0022\u003EFurther clinical follow-up will be needed to determine the hard endpoints and outcomes of such aggressive lipid reduction therapy and whether plaque volume reduction by IVUS translates into lower number of major cardiovascular events. In addition, further analysis of plaque composition and the pleiotropic effects of rosuvastatin might give further insight into its ability to reduce plaque volume. Comparison with other lipid lowering agents as well as correlation of degree lipid lowering with the degree of plaque reduction should be investigated in the future to corroborate these results.\u003C\/p\u003E\n         \u003Cdiv id=\u0022T1\u0022 class=\u0022table pos-float\u0022\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022table-inline\u0022\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022callout\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EView this table:\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cul class=\u0022callout-links\u0022\u003E\u003Cli class=\u00220 first\u0022\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022\/\u0022 class=\u0022table-expand-inline\u0022 data-table-url=\u0022\/highwire\/markup\/16085\/expansion?postprocessors=highwire_figures%2Chighwire_math%2Chighwire_inline_linked_media%2Chighwire_embed\u0026amp;table-expand-inline=1\u0022 html=\u00221\u0022 fragment=\u0022#\u0022 external=\u00221\u0022 data-icon-position=\u0022\u0022 data-hide-link-title=\u00220\u0022\u003EView inline\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli class=\u00221\u0022\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022\/highwire\/markup\/16085\/expansion?width=1000\u0026amp;height=500\u0026amp;iframe=true\u0026amp;postprocessors=highwire_figures%2Chighwire_math%2Chighwire_inline_linked_media\u0022 class=\u0022colorbox colorbox-load table-expand-popup\u0022 rel=\u0022gallery-fragment-tables\u0022 data-icon-position=\u0022\u0022 data-hide-link-title=\u00220\u0022\u003EView popup\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli class=\u00222 last\u0022\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022\/highwire\/powerpoint\/16085\u0022 class=\u0022highwire-figure-link highwire-figure-link-ppt\u0022 data-icon-position=\u0022\u0022 data-hide-link-title=\u00220\u0022\u003EDownload powerpoint\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022table-caption\u0022\u003E\n               \u003Cp id=\u0022p-7\u0022 class=\u0022first-child\u0022\u003ELipid Results (mean values)\u003C\/p\u003E\n            \u003Cdiv class=\u0022sb-div caption-clear\u0022\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n         \u003Cdiv id=\u0022T2\u0022 class=\u0022table pos-float\u0022\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022table-inline\u0022\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022callout\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EView this table:\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cul class=\u0022callout-links\u0022\u003E\u003Cli class=\u00220 first\u0022\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022\/\u0022 class=\u0022table-expand-inline\u0022 data-table-url=\u0022\/highwire\/markup\/16086\/expansion?postprocessors=highwire_figures%2Chighwire_math%2Chighwire_inline_linked_media%2Chighwire_embed\u0026amp;table-expand-inline=1\u0022 html=\u00221\u0022 fragment=\u0022#\u0022 external=\u00221\u0022 data-icon-position=\u0022\u0022 data-hide-link-title=\u00220\u0022\u003EView inline\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli class=\u00221\u0022\u003E\u003Ca 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caption-clear\u0022\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n      \u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cul class=\u0022copyright-statement\u0022\u003E\u003Cli class=\u0022fn\u0022 id=\u0022copyright-statement-1\u0022\u003E\u00a9 2006 MD Conference Express\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022highwire-journal-article-marker-end\u0022\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cspan id=\u0022related-urls\u0022\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/mdc.sagepub.com\/content\/6\/1\/13.abstract\u0022 class=\u0022hw-link hw-link-article-abstract\u0022 data-icon-position=\u0022\u0022 data-hide-link-title=\u00220\u0022\u003EView Summary\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E  \u003C\/div\u003E\n\n  \n  \u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n  \u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cscript type=\u0022text\/javascript\u0022 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