EFFECTS OF CHOLESTEROL-LOWERING ON THE PROGRESSION OF CORONARY ATHEROSCLEROSIS IN WOMEN - A CANADIAN CORONARY ATHEROSCLEROSIS INTERVENTION TRIAL (CCAIT) SUBSTUDY

Background Although coronary disease is the leading cause of death in women and its clinical features differ from those in men, very few wom en have been included in angiographic trials of cholesterol lowering. Methods and Results Sixty-two women with diffuse but not necessarily s evere coronary atherosclerosis documented on a recent angiogram and wi th fasting serum cholesterol between 220 and 300 mg/dL were enrolled i n a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. More than one half had a h istory of hypertension, approximately one quarter were diabetics, and one third were current smokers. All women received dietary counseling Lovastatin or placebo was begun at 20 mg/d and was titrated if necessa ry to 40 and then to 80 mg during the first 16 weeks to attain a fasti ng LDL cholesterol less than or equal to 130 mg/dL. The mean lovastati n dose was 34 mg/d. Total and LDL cholesterol decreased by 24% and 32% , respectively, in lovastatin-treated women but by <3% in women receiv ing placebo. Coronary arteriography was repeated after 2 years in 54 w omen (87%), and their 394 lesions were measured ''blindly'' on pairs o f Nm with an automated computerized quantitative system. Progression, defined as a worsening in minimum diameter of one or more stenoses by greater than or equal to 0.4 mm, occurred in 7 of 25 lovastatin-treate d women and 17 of 29 placebo-treated women (28% versus 59%, P=.031). N ew coronary lesions developed in 1 lovastatin-treated woman and 13 pla cebo-treated women (4% versus 45%, P<.001). The outcome for each of th e angiographic end points was not significantly different between the women and the 245 men who completed the trial. Conclusions Lovastatin slows the progression of coronary atherosclerosis and prevents the dev elopment of new coronary lesions in women.