( PInhibition and HDL Elevation (ILLUST...)Cholesterol Drug Fails to Slow Progression of Coronary Disease,,Cleveland Clinic Study Reports,Health

Patients were then randomized to receive either 60 mg of torcetrapib or a matching placebo for two years. At the end of the treatment period, a second IVUS was performed, examining the same coronary arteries. Researchers measured the change in plaque volume in the artery, comparing the baseline to the follow-up ultrasound. They also measured patients' blood cholesterol levels and biomarkers of inflammation at several points during the trial.

Patients in the torcetrapib/atorvastatin group experienced a 61 percent relative increase in HDL cholesterol levels and a 20 percent relative decrease in LDL levels, as compared with patients in the atorvastatin-only group. Despite those results, there was no statistical difference between the two groups in plaque volume changes. Plaque volume increased by 0.19 percent in the atorvastatin-only patients and 0.12 percent in the combination group, p = 0.72. Torectrapib was also associated with a substantial increase in blood pressure, averaging 4.6 mm.

IVUS is a technique in which a tiny ultrasound probe is inserted into the coronary arteries, providing a precise and reproducible method for determining the change in plaque, or atheroma, burden during treatment.

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