Use of combination therapy is associated with improved LDL-cholesterol management: 1-year follow-up results from the European observational SANTORINI study.

ABSTRACT

AIM: To assess whether implementation of the 2019 ESC/EAS dyslipidaemia guidelines observed between 2020-2021 improved between 2021-2022 in the SANTORINI study. METHODS: High- or very-high cardiovascular (CV) risk patients were recruited across 14 European countries from March 2020-February 2021, with 1-year prospective follow-up until May 2022. Lipid-lowering therapy (LLT) and 2019 ESC/EAS risk-based low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) goal attainment (defined as <1.4 mmol/L for patients at very high CV risk and <1.8 mmol/L for patients at high CV risk) at 1-year follow-up were compared with baseline. . RESULTS: Of 9559 patients enrolled, 9136 (2626 high risk, 6504 very high risk) had any follow-up data, and 7210 (2033 high risk, 5173 very high risk) had baseline and follow-up LDL-C data. LLT was escalated in one-third of patients and unchanged in two-thirds. Monotherapy and combination therapy usage rose from 53.6% and 25.6% to 57.1% and 37.9%, respectively. Mean LDL-C levels decreased from 2.4 mmol/L to 2.0 mmol/L. Goal attainment improved from 21.2% to 30.9%, largely driven by LLT use among those not on LLT at baseline. Goal attainment was greater with combination therapy compared with monotherapy at follow-up (39.4 vs 25.5%). CONCLUSIONS: LLT use and achievement of risk-based lipid goals increased over 1-year follow-up particularly when combination LLT was used. Nonetheless, most patients remained above goal, hence strategies are needed to improve implementation of combination LLT.

Cardiovascular diseases, a group of disorders of the heart and blood vessels, are the most common cause of death worldwide. Lowering low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol in the bloodstream reduces the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases, such as heart attacks and strokes. Guidelines recommend that those at highest risk of cardiovascular disease should achieve the lowest levels of LDL cholesterol. Several medications are available that help lower LDL cholesterol levels and prevent cardiovascular events, however, recent studies have shown that the majority of patients continue to have LDL cholesterol levels above optimal value in part due to suboptimal use of these medications. Here we report the results after 1 year of follow-up of the SANTORINI study (started in 2020) which aimed to document the management of LDL cholesterol in clinical practice across 14 countries in Europe. We found that better control of LDL cholesterol occurred when more than one drug was used (combination therapy). Use of combination therapy was low at the start of the study 25.6% but increased over 1 year to 37.9%, resulting in better control of LDL cholesterol at 1 year than observed at the start of the study. Nonetheless, only 31% of patients achieved their LDL cholesterol target levels based on the European guidelines. Greater use of combination therapies is needed in order to improve the overall population level control of LDL cholesterol.