1.
Is age an important factor for vascular response to statin therapy? A serial optical coherence tomography and intravascular ultrasound study.
Dai, J, Hou, J, Xing, L, Jia, H, Hu, S, Soeda, T, Minami, Y, Ong, D, Vergallo, R, Zhang, S, et al
Coronary artery disease. 2017;(3):209-217
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Age-related structural and functional changes in vessel wall may affect the time course of vascular response to statin therapy. In this study, we sought to compare the response of lipid-rich plaque to statin therapy in elderly versus younger patients using optical coherence tomography and intravascular ultrasound. PATIENTS AND METHODS Sixty-nine patients who underwent serial optical coherence tomography and intravascular ultrasound at the time point of baseline, 6, and 12 months were divided into two groups according to median age: group A (age<57 years, n=35) and group B (age≥57 years, n=34). Patients were treated with intensive (atorvastatin 60 mg/day) or moderate (atorvastatin 20 mg/day or rosuvastatin 10 mg/day) statin therapy. RESULTS A continuous increase in fibrous-cap thickness (FCT) from baseline to 12 months was observed in both groups (P<0.001, <0.001, respectively). Intensive statin induced greater percent change in FCT at 12 months than moderate statin in group B (P=0.020), but not in group A (P=0.251). Mean lipid arc decreased significantly at 12 months in two groups (P<0.001, <0.001, respectively), and this response was delayed for 6 months (P=0.403) and began to decrease during the second 6 months (P<0.001) in group B. Normalized total atheroma volume decreased significantly in group A (P<0.001), but not in group B (P=0.349). CONCLUSION Statin therapy could stabilize lipid-rich plaque irrespective of age, and intensive statin therapy was more effective than a moderate dose of statin in increasing FCT, particularly in older patients. A delayed response of lipid content and unfavorable change in normalized total atheroma volume to statin were observed in elderly patients.
2.
Serial Optical Coherence Tomography and Intravascular Ultrasound Analysis of Gender Difference in Changes of Plaque Phenotype in Response to Lipid-Lowering Therapy.
Minami, Y, Hou, J, Xing, L, Jia, H, Hu, S, Vergallo, R, Soeda, T, Lee, H, Zhang, S, Yu, B, et al
The American journal of cardiology. 2016;(12):1890-5
Abstract
Although the clinical benefit of statins have been demonstrated in both genders, gender differences in the response to statin therapy on plaque morphologic changes have not been reported. A total of 66 nonculprit plaques from 46 patients who had serial image acquisition at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months by both optical coherence tomography and intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) were included. Patients were treated with atorvastatin 60 mg (AT60) or 20 mg (AT20). The baseline characteristics were similar between women (n = 16) and men (n = 30) except for age (59.3 ± 6.8 vs 52.5 ± 10.6 years, p = 0.027) and smoking status (12.5% vs 70.0%, p <0.001). The change in fibrous cap thickness (FCT) at 12 months was significant in both groups (108.8 ± 87.4 μm, p <0.001, 91.3 ± 70.1 μm, p <0.001, respectively) without significant difference between the groups (p = 0.437). The percent change in mean lipid arc at 6 months was significantly greater in women than that in men (-12.8 ± 18.8% vs -1.56 ± 21.8%, p = 0.040). In women, the percent change of FCT in the AT20 group was similar to that in the AT60 group (182.5 ± 199.5% vs 192.9 ± 149.7%, p = 0.886). However, in men, the percent change of FCT in the AT20 group was significantly smaller than that in the AT60 group (92.2 ± 90.5% vs 225.9 ± 104.3%, p <0.001). No significant change in percent atheroma volume by IVUS was seen at 12 months in both women and men. In conclusion, statin therapy was effective in both genders for plaque stabilization at 12-month follow-up. High-intensity statin therapy may be particularly important in men.