Suppressive Effects of Standard-dose Rosuvastatin Therapy on the Progression of Coronary Atherosclerosis in Japanese Patients: The APOLLO Study

Aim: We used quantitative coronary angiography (QCA) to investigate whether coronary plaque progression can be inhibited by controlling lipids with rosuvastatin at Japanese standard doses following elective percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Methods: A total of 143 patients who underwent elective PCI were randomized to either the rosuvastatin (5 or 2.5 mg/day) or non-statin group. Changes from baseline in the minimal lumen diameter (MLD) and average lumen diameter (ALD) measured using QCA were analyzed in both target and non-target lesions. Results: The changes in MLD and ALD from baseline to 24 months in the non-target lesions were significantly smaller in the rosuvastatin group than in the non-statin group (-0.079 +/- 0.014 mm vs. - 0.135 +/- 0.019 mm, p = 0.022; - 0.062 +/- 0.012 mm vs. - 0.109 +/- 0.016 mm, p = 0.025). The changes in MLD from six to 24 months in the target lesions were significantly lower in the rosuvastatin group than in the non-statin group among the patients treated with drug-eluting stents (- 0.046 +/- 0.108 mm vs. - 0.133 +/- 0.108 mm, p = 0.009) versus those treated with bare-metal stents (- 0.011 +/- 0.094 mm vs. - 0.015 +/- 0.040 mm, p = 0.255). Conclusions: The present study demonstrated that the administration of a standard dose of rosuvastatin slows coronary plaque progression and may prevent the late catch-up phenomenon associated with drug-eluting stents in patients who undergo elective PCI.