(HealthDay News) — Rosuvastatin appears to be more effective than atorvastatin for regression of coronary atherosclerotic plaques, according to a meta-analysis published in The American Journal of Cardiology.
Cheng Qian, MD, from Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University in China, and colleagues conducted a meta-analysis to provide evidence for proper statin selection for the reversion of coronary atherosclerotic plaques. Five randomized trials that met predefined inclusion criteria were analyzed, with a total of 1556 participants, of whom 772 were in the rosuvastatin group and 784 in the atorvastatin group.
In all included trials, the dose ratios of rosuvastatin vs atorvastatin were 1:2. The researchers found that rosuvastatin administration further reduced the total atheroma volume (P=.004) and percent atheroma volume (P=.03), compared with atorvastatin, and correlated with more improvement in lumen volume (P=.046).
There was no difference in the comparative regression of plaques across subgroups.
“In conclusion, rosuvastatin is superior to atorvastatin in the reversion of coronary atherosclerotic plaques,” the researchers wrote.