Simvastatin therapy for hypercholesterolaemia in patients with coronary heart disease.

The efficacy of simvastatin therapy for hypercholesterolaemia was evaluated in 26 patients with coronary heart disease, 20 of whom had undergone coronary artery bypass grafting. Simvastatin reduced total- and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol from 8.3 to 5.1 (38%) and 6.3 to 3.3 mmol/L (48%) respectively, p less than 0.001; high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol increased from 1.19 to 1.24 mmol/L, p = NS. The changes in apoproteins A1 and B paralleled those of HDL- and LDL-cholesterol. There were no clinically important adverse effects. We conclude that simvastatin is effective lipid lowering therapy and can be used safely, in the short term, in patients with coronary heart disease.