Title

Lipid-altering efficacy and safety of simvastatin 80 mg/day: long term experience in a large group of patients with hypercholesterolemia. World Wide Expanded Dose Simvastatin Study Group

Purpose

To evaluate the long-term lipid-altering efficacy and safety of simvastatin 80 mg/day in patients with hypercholesterolemia

Design

Two randomized, multicenter, double-blind, parallel group studies

Patients

1105 hypercholesterolemic patients

Follow-up

48 weeks

Treatment regimen

Simvastatin 80 mg daily vs simvastatin 40 mg daily

Results

• Mean percentage reductions from baseline in LDL cholesterol in the 40 and 80 mg groups were 41% and 46%, respectively.
• Larger reductions in total cholesterol and triglycerides were also observed with the 80 mg dose compared to the 40 mg dose.
• Both doses were well tolerated .

Conclusion

Compared with the 40 mg dose, simvastatin 80 mg produced greater reductions in LDL cholesterol, total cholesterol and triglycerides. Both doses were well tolerated.