Statin, Ezetimibe Combination Reduces Adverse CV Outcomes in Patients Undergoing PCI

The combination therapy of a statin plus ezetimibe significantly reduces cardiovascular (CV) events in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), according to a study presented at TCT 2023 and published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

While ezetimibe is a recommended add-on therapy following statin after PCI, the clinical efficacy of this combination has yet to be compared with statin monotherapy.

To conduct this analysis, researchers used the National Health Information Database in South Korea to assess 116,952 patients, matching them 1:1 to a combination therapy arm (n=6676) and a monotherapy arm (n=6680). The key end point of interest was the 3-year composite of CV death, myocardial infarction (MI), or stroke. Secondary end points included all-cause mortality and components of the primary outcome.

According to the findings, incidence rates per 1000 person-years of primary outcomes in the combination and monotherapy arms were 24.5 and 32.7, respectively (hazard ratio, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.63-0.72; P<.001).

Overall, the study demonstrated that combination therapy was significantly correlated with a lower risk of the primary outcome, all-cause death, CV death, and MI.

“Among patients undergoing PCI, combination therapy was significantly associated with a lower risk of 3-year CV events and mortality,” the researchers concluded.