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 .
Randomised controlled trial of the treatment of hyperlipidaemia on progression of atherosclerosis.
Two types of end-point measurement are presently available in clinical trials of the effect of treatment of hyperlipidaemia on cardiovascular disease ; these are the incidence of clinical events and the arteriographic assessment of progression or regression of atherosclerosis . These approaches are briefly review ed . In the present trial , 25 hyperlipidaemic men with symptomatic femoral atherosclerosis underwent biplanar femoral arteriography at baseline .  They were then r and omised into treatment and usual-care groups ; treatment was individualized , comprising a lipid-lowering diet with cholestyramine , nicotinic acid or clofibrate as appropriate for the lipoprotein disorder . Mean cholesterol and triglyceride levels were 19 % and 37 % lower in the treatment group . Arteriography was repeated after a mean period of 19 months . With attention to blinding of observers , changes in arteriograms were quantitated using computerised image analysis and visual methods , and expressed both by patient and by arterial segment . All end-points were in conformity and showed a lower rate of progression of arterial disease in the treatment group , and a higher frequency of segmental regression in treated patients . In this small trial of patients with functionally-significant atherosclerosis , effective treatment of hyperlipidaemia favourably affected the course of the arterial disease
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 .