title: Does the addition of ezetimibe to statins reduce cardiovascular risk?
abstract: Statins are the mainstay of lipid-lowering therapy nowadays, since they reduce cardiovascular risk when used as primary or secondary prevention. However, only one third of the patients reach the goals established in several guidelines, and even if they do, they keep a risk higher than healthy controls. One of the new lipid-lowering agents is ezetimibe. Searching in Epistemonikos database, which is maintained by screening multiple databases, we identified nine systematic reviews comprising 67 trials overall. We combined the evidence using meta-analysis and generated a summary of findings following the GRADE approach. We concluded adding ezetimibe to statins probably results in little or no difference in overall mortality. It might lead to a small reduction in the risk of myocardial infarction and stroke, but the certainty of the evidence is low.
authors.affiliation: Proyecto Epistemonikos, Santiago, Chile. Address: Facultad de Medicina, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Diagonal Paraguay 476, Santiago Centro, Chile. Email: bagrassi@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Francisca I
authors.initials: FI
authors.lastname: Araya
authors.affiliation: Proyecto Epistemonikos, Santiago, Chile; Departamento de Nutrición y Diabetes, Facultad de Medicina, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Grassi
mesh_terms: D000924:Anticholesteremic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D000069438:Ezetimibe / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D000924:Anticholesteremic Agents; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors; D008055:Lipids; D000069438:Ezetimibe