Intensive doses of a cholesterol-lowering statin drug have for the first time cleared sticky plaque lodged in arteries, opening the possibility of a nonsurgical method of treating the major cause of heart attacks, researchers reported Monday.
The results were seen in a study of 500 patients taking the highest recommended dosage of Crestor -- 40 milligrams -- quadruple the typical starting dose of 10 milligrams.
Although the study looked only at Crestor, produced by European drugmaker AstraZeneca, experts said it was likely that high doses of other statin drugs also would remove blockages from arteries because the medications were similar.
Some researchers criticized the study because it did not compare the Crestor patients with a control group taking a placebo or other cholesterol-lowering pills. Such studies are the gold standard in research because they reduce the possibility of bias.
More research is needed to show that a reduction in plaque lowers the risk of heart attack, said Dr. Steven Nissen of the Cleveland Clinic, the researcher who led the study published online Monday by the Journal of the American Medical Assn.
Several other drug companies and the National Institutes of Health are conducting similar trials on other statins. The first results are expected by early next year.
"A lot of us thought this couldn't be done," said Nissen, who presented his findings at a meeting of the American College of Cardiology in Atlanta, calling the results "shockingly positive."
"The use of such high doses of Crestor raised concerns about the drug's side effects, which include possible muscle and liver damage, although no patients in the two-year study suffered serious problems.
However, one-third of patients had an increased buildup of plaque, researchers said.
But some doctors said the results were so encouraging that the risks could be worth it for many patients in the early stages of arteriosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries induced by excessive cholesterol.
"If you can regress or reverse arteriosclerosis, what can be better than that?" said Dr. Howard K. Elkin, a Whittier cardiologist.
Arteriosclerosis affects an estimated 13 million Americans. As the coronary arteries harden and narrow, less blood moves through them and the flow to the heart is reduced.
Surgical procedures are used to reopen or bypass clogged blood vessels. Typically, the operations are used to treat patients with an artery that is more than 50% blocked with plaque.
