Thousands of patients here could benefit from a significant breakthrough in the treatment of heart disease.
People with coronary heart disease who were treated with a high dose of a cholesterol-lowering drug have, for the first time, shown a regression of blockages in their coronary arteries. In Ireland, coronary heart disease accounts for 20 per cent of all deaths annually.
Research presented yesterday at the American College of Cardiology conference in Atlanta, Georgia, found that almost four out of every five patients treated with 40mg a day of rosuvastatin (Crestor) over a two-year period showed a regression of atherosclerosis (the accumulation of fatty deposits inside arterial walls).
This process can lead to potentially fatal conditions, including heart attacks and strokes. Previous trials with statin drugs have demonstrated a slowing or halting of atherosclerosis but have never shown convincing evidence of disease regression.
Dr Steven Nissen and his colleagues from the Cleveland Clinic carried out the Asteroid trial to see whether high-intensity statin treatment could reduce the size of fatty plaques in coronary arteries. The usual dose of rosuvastatin is five or 10mg daily. Patients in the trial were given 40mg a day.
After two years of treatment with rosuvastatin, doctors performed intravascular ultrasound tests on 350 patients at care centres in the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia. The results show that plaque build-up in arteries was reduced by between 7-9 per cent.
The treatment also reduced the blood level of "bad" cholesterol (LDL) by 53 per cent and increased the HDL or "good" cholesterol by 15 per cent in the study participants.
About 25,000 people are discharged from hospital in the Republic every year following treatment for heart disease. Twenty per cent of all registered deaths are due to coronary heart disease, figures from the Central Statistics Office show.
The results of the new research will be published next month in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Dr Declan Sugrue, consultant cardiologist at the Mater hospital said: "The data from this study is an important new finding. We see this as underscoring the benefits of aggressively managing cholesterol levels, both LDL and HDL, to reduce the burden of atherosclerosis."
However, in a note of caution, Dr Brian Maurer, medical director of the Irish Heart Foundation, told The Irish Times: "Plaque regression is a surrogate end point, the value of which is not clear in clinical practice. While the study is welcome, it is the beginning of a new question and these results must be interpreted with caution."