Lipid-lowering therapy is effective in reducing cardiovascular mortality and morbidity in people with PAD .
It may also improve local symptoms .
Until further evidence on the relative effectiveness of different lipid-lowering agents is available , use of a statin in people with PAD and a blood cholesterol level > /=3.5 mmol/litre is most indicated
BACKGROUND Lipid-lowering therapy is recommended for secondary prevention in people with coronary artery disease .
It may also reduce cardiovascular events and /or local disease progression in people with lower limb peripheral arterial disease ( PAD ) .
OBJECTIVES To assess the effects of lipid-lowering therapy on all-cause mortality , cardiovascular events and local disease progression in patients with PAD of the lower limb .
The Cholesterol Lowering Atherosclerosis Study (CLAS): design, methods, and baseline results.
The Cholesterol Lowering Atherosclerosis Study ( CLAS ) is a prospect i ve , placebo-controlled , angiographic trial design ed to test the hypothesis that aggressive lowering of LDL cholesterol with concomitant increase in HDL cholesterol will reverse or retard the atherosclerotic process . Specifically , CLAS was design ed to determine whether combined therapy with colestipol plus niacin will produce clinical ly significant change in coronary , carotid , and femoral artery atherosclerosis and coronary bypass graft lesions . To this purpose , 188 subjects were r and omized to diet plus drug or diet plus placebo .  We report on method ological aspects of planning and evaluating this study , including the choice of the study population , procedures for recruitment , the experimental design including sample size considerations , methods for evaluating outcome , and methods for evaluating compliance to treatment . Comparison of baseline data indicated no significant differences between groups at the time of r and omization . Subjects were predominantly male , Caucasian , 54 years of age , 20 % above ideal weight , with normal blood pressure . The average age at bypass was 50 years . The average lipids were cholesterol ( 243 mg/dL ) , HDL ( 45 mg/dL ) , and LDL ( 168 mg/dL ) . Finally , the distribution of baseline coronary stenosis was equivalent between the two groups ( average number of lesions per subject = 10.6 )
Lipid-lowering therapy is effective in reducing cardiovascular mortality and morbidity in people with PAD .
It may also improve local symptoms .
Until further evidence on the relative effectiveness of different lipid-lowering agents is available , use of a statin in people with PAD and a blood cholesterol level > /=3.5 mmol/litre is most indicated
BACKGROUND Lipid-lowering therapy is recommended for secondary prevention in people with coronary artery disease .
It may also reduce cardiovascular events and /or local disease progression in people with lower limb peripheral arterial disease ( PAD ) .
OBJECTIVES To assess the effects of lipid-lowering therapy on all-cause mortality , cardiovascular events and local disease progression in patients with PAD of the lower limb .