Prof Paul Ridker and colleagues published their collaborative analysis of three RCTs recently in The Lancet. It has previously been shown that in patients not on treatment, dyslipidaemias and inflammation are equal contributors to the risk of future cardiovascular events.

Most patients at known risk of future cardiovascular events will already be receiving a statin. For such patients, the investigators wanted to explore whether adding a second lipid-lowering agent or an anti-inflammatory agent would be more beneficial.

High-sensitivity C-reactive protein was used as a surrogate marker for residual inflammation and LDL cholesterol as a surrogate for residual hyperlipidaemia. Their findings suggested that residual inflammatory risk was a stronger predictor of future cardiovascular events than residual hypercholesterolaemia and that in patients with suboptimal response to statins, the addition of an anti-inflammatory agent rather than a second lipid-lowering agent may be an effective option.

See the full paper on The Lancet website.