Do hypertensive patients with average cholesterol levels benefit from atorvastatin therapy?
Daniel G. Hackam Chief Medical Resident St. Joseph’s Healthcare Department of Medicine McMaster University Hamilton, Ont. ASCOT investigators. Prevention of coronary and stroke events with atorvastatin in hypertensive patients who have average or lower-than-average cholesterol concentrations, in the Anglo Scandinavian Cardiac Outcomes Trial Lipid Lowering Arm (ASCOT-LLA): a multicentre randomised controlled trial. Lancet 2003; 361: 1149-58. Background: Cholesterol lowering with statins effectively reduces cardiovascular event rates in a broad array of individuals at high risk of vascular disease. There is limited information, however, on the benefits of statins in patients with well-controlled hypertension and average or low cholesterol levels. Question: Does treatment with atorvastatin improve cardiovascular outcomes in patients with hypertension and additional vascular risk factors? Design: The trial was a substudy of a large randomized controlled trial comparing 2 antihypertensive t
