ABSTRACT
In the broad sense, the cholesterol controversy is no more. In the past several years, clinical trials have given us conclusive evidence that lowering circulating cholesterol levels, particularly low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels, prevents both the morbid and mortal ischemic events resulting from coronary atherosclerosis.1 Despite this, however, there are many issues surrounding cholesterol-lowering which remain controversial. Completed clinical trials have, not surprisingly, raised as many questions as they have answered. For this reason, a number of additional trials remain in the planning stages or in the field. The major cholesterol-lowering trials currently in planning or in progress, primarily those with endpoints representing morbid or mortal coronary events, are summarized in Table 11.1.2 These studies cover a wide range of topics. In some cases, they address more than one question simultaneously. Nevertheless, they can be classified into a manageable number of groups addressing similar topics. For the most part, only trials with clinical event endpoints (i.e. heart attack, stroke, angioplasty, etc.) will be discussed.
