The short-term effect of atorvastatin plus ezetimibe therapy versus atorvastatin monotherapy on clinical outcome in acute coronary syndrome patients by gender.

Background: Atorvastatin reduces low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels and the risk of cardiovascular events, but whether the addition of ezetimibe (EZE), a non-statin drug that reduces intestinal cholesterol absorption, can reduce the rate of cardiovascular events further, and if there any sex differences, is not known.

Aim: To evaluate the effects of atorvastatin and EZE combination in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients on the incidence of composite endpoint in short-term follow-up and to assess differences according their gender.

Methods: We conducted a 16-week, single-centre, prospective, randomised, open-label clinical trial involving 323 patients who had been hospitalised for an ACS within the preceding 14 days.