Efficacy and safety of rosuvastatin versus atorvastatin in high-risk Chinese patients with hypercholesterolemia: a randomized, double-blind, active-controlled study

AbstractObjective: To evaluate and compare the efficacy and safety of rosuvastatin versus atorvastatin in a high-risk Chinese population with hypercholesterolemia.Research design and methods: This 6 week, prospective, multicenter, double-blind, three-arm, parallel-group, active-controlled study randomized adult Chinese patients (low-density lipoprotein cholesterol [LDL-C] ≥ 130–<250 mg/dL statin-naive and ≥100–<160 mg/dL in statin treated) to receive rosuvastatin (5 mg or 10 mg) or atorvastatin 10 mg. Patients not achieving National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) Adult Treatment Panel (ATP) III LDL-C targets in the randomized phase were administered rosuvastatin 10 mg and 20 mg in the open-label phase.Results: In total 414 patients (mean age: 59.5 ± 9.51 years, 59.4% females, mean LDL-C: 4.242 ± 0.676 mmol/L (rosuvastatin 5 mg), 4.13 ± 0.682 mmol/L (rosuvastatin 10 mg) and 4.213 ± 0.662 mmol/L (atorvastatin 10 mg) were analyzed. Compared with atorvastatin 10 mg, rosuvastatin 5 mg (−41.70% vs. −38.67...