New insights in the treatment of dyslipidemia: a focus on cardiovascular event reduction and the anti-atherosclerotic effects of atorvastatin.

The identification and treatment of dyslipidemia is a critical component of ongoing efforts to reduce the incidence of atherosclerotic disease in both men and women. Several recent large-scale atorvastatin trials provide a plethora of information that expands the current body of literature describing the pathophysiology of cardiovascular disease and the prevention of acute cardiovascular events. These trials demonstrate the benefit of statin therapy in a broad variety of patient populations, explore the clinical efficacy of more intensive statin regimens, and suggest that the pleiotropic effects of statins may contribute to cardiovascular endpoint reduction. In addition, these studies have challenged whether current guidelines for low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels provide optimal risk reduction for cardiovascular events. Additional studies with atorvastatin are underway to further explore the extent to which statins can provide cardiovascular benefits.