Research Article Comparison of Low-Dose Rosuvastatin with Atorvastatin in Lipid-Lowering Efficacy and Safety in a High-Risk Pakistani Cohort: An Open-Label Randomized Trial

License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Background. Treatment of hyperlipidemia is helpful in both primary and secondary prevention of coronary heart disease and stroke. Aim. To compare lipid-lowering efficacy of rosuvastatinwith atorvastatin.Methodology.This open-label randomized controlled trial was carried out at 1MountainMedical Battalion from September 2012 to August 2013 on patients with type 2 diabetes, hypertension, myocardial infarction, or stroke, meriting treatment with a statin. Those with secondary causes of dyslipidemia were excluded. Blood samples for estimation of serum total cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL-C, and LDL-C were collected after a 12-hour fast. Patients were randomly allocated to receive either atorvastatin 10mg HS or rosuvastatin 5mg HS daily. Lipid levels were rechecked after six weeks. Results. Atorvastatin was used in 63 patients and rosuvastatin in 66. There was a greater absolute and percent reduction in serum LDL-C levels with rosuvastatin as compared to atorvastatin (0.96 versus 0.54mg/dL