Peking and Rotterdam on Mission to Reduce Coronary Artery Disease

Exclusion Criteria

• •• Myocardial ischemia precipitated by a condition other than atherosclerotic coronary artery disease (e.g. arrhythmia, severe anemia, hypoxia, thyrotoxicosis, cocaine, severe valvular disease, hypotension).
• •* Severely-impaired left ventricular function (ejection fraction \<30%) or end-stage congestive heart failure NYHA-class III or IV (in order to avoid lost-to-follow-up due to non-acute coronary syndrome events).
• •* Severe chronic kidney disease with measured or calculated glomerular filtration rate (Cockgroft-Gault or MDRD4 (Modification of Diet in Renal Disease) formula) of \<30 ml/min/1.73m2, or renal dialysis.
• •* Co-existent condition associated with a life-expectancy \<12 months, or otherwise unlikely to appear at all scheduled follow-up visits.
• •* Known serious or hypersensitivity reactions to HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors.
• •* Triglyceride (TG) level ≥500 mg/dL (5.65 mmol/L) at screening, because patients with very high triglyceride levels warrant treatment with agents that may increase the risk of side effects associated with statin drugs.
• •* Active liver disease or hepatic dysfunction, as determined by alanine aminotransferase (ALT \[SGPT\]) \>3 x ULN or bilirubin levels \>1.5 x ULN at screening.
• •* Myopathy.
• •* Not using effective contraceptive methods.
• •* Participation in any investigational drug study less than 30 days prior to enrolment.