More elderly patients at risk for congestive heart failure are getting aggressive statin therapy when they need it. Researchers from Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research in Portland, Oregon, say that the 2004 update to the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III guidelines and the corresponding revision of internal guidelines in the large health maintenance organization they studied resulted in more patients receiving minimal-guideline statin therapy.

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Rosuvastatin calcium (Crestor, Astra-Zeneca) has been approved as an adjunct to diet to delay the progression of atherosclerosis in patients with elevated cholesterol levels.

In the Measuring Effects on intima media Thickness: an Evaluation Of Rosu-vastatin (METEOR) study, researchers evaluated the effects of this drug on plaque build-up in the arteries. The new label conforms to the FDA’s revised format designed to draw physicians’ attention to important drug information in an effort to reduce errors.

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The FDA has approved the 4-mg maximum dose of pitavastatin (Livalo, Kowa), which is designed to improve blood cholesterol levels. Like other statins, this agent is indicated when diet and exercise fail to lower cholesterol levels.

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