Does moderate-intensity statin therapy reduce carotid plaque progression in patients with carotid plaques as assessed by 3D ultrasound?
Three-dimensional ultrasound imaging effectively demonstrates that moderate-intensity statin therapy slows the progression of carotid plaque volume over 2 years compared to no statin therapy.
Abstract Purpose We aimed to evaluate the feasibility of three‐dimensional ultrasound imaging (3DUS) in assessing the therapeutic effect of moderate‐intensity statin therapy on carotid atherosclerotic plaques. Methods Patients with carotid plaques were recruited to the study from January 2016 to September 2018, and were divided into two groups based on whether or not they were taking statins. All participants underwent 3DUS of their carotid plaques at baseline, then 3 months and 2 years after initial examination. The changes of the carotid plaques were compared between the two groups. Results Were included 97 patients (57 males and 40 females), 65.26 ± 9.53 year‐old with 67 into the statin group and 30 in the control group. The baseline levels of total cholesterol (TC) and low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL‐C) were lower in the statin group than in the control group (3.79 ± 0.78 mmol/L vs 4.50 ± 1.12 mmol/L; 2.01 ± 0.62 mmol/L vs 2.58 ± 0.91 mmol/L, P < .05). There was no significant difference in the change of total plaque volume (TPV) detected by 3D‐US between the statin (median interquartile range: 0 −30‐20 mm 3 ) and the control group (0 −22.5‐25 mm 3 ) at 3 months. Over 2 years, the TPV increased faster in the control group (+70 25‐150 mm 3 ), than in the statin group (15 [−57.5‐90) mm 3 , P < .05). Conclusions 3DUS can be an effective tool to observe the development of carotid plaques and the effect of statin treatment.
Chen et al. (Thu,) studied this question.