Study Overview

This study focused on major cardiovascular events (MACE) that can occur after a procedure called percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). These events are a leading cause of death for patients. The goal was to see if combining two medications, ezetimibe and atorvastatin, would be more effective than using atorvastatin alone in reducing these events.

Study Details

The research was conducted in Bandar Abbas in 2018 with 224 patients. They were randomly split into two groups:

Group A: Received both ezetimibe and atorvastatin.
Group B: Received atorvastatin only.

Patients were monitored for one month to track any major cardiovascular events and side effects from the medications.

Key Findings

Both groups had similar starting health conditions. However, the results showed:

Group A had lower levels of low-density lipoproteins (LDL) compared to Group B.
Group A also had significantly lower levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), which indicates inflammation.
There were very few heart attacks: 3 in Group A and 1 in Group B.
Unstable angina occurred in 11 patients from Group A and 13 from Group B, showing no significant difference.
No deaths or major complications were reported in either group.

Conclusions

Adding ezetimibe to atorvastatin reduced LDL and hs-CRP levels but did not significantly lower short-term major cardiovascular events after PCI. Further studies with longer follow-up periods are needed to explore these effects.

Practical Applications

For healthcare providers and patients, this study highlights the importance of:

Monitoring lipid levels and inflammation markers after PCI.
Understanding that while combination therapy may help with cholesterol, it may not reduce short-term heart events.
Considering longer-term studies to better understand the benefits of these treatments.

Next Steps for Clinics

Clinics can:

Set measurable outcomes based on LDL and hs-CRP levels.
Implement pilot projects to track the effectiveness of these medications.
Explore AI tools for better patient management and tracking of cardiovascular events.