A COMPARATIVE STUDY TO EVALUATE THE EFFICACY AND SAFETY OF ROSUVASTATIN 5MG VERSUS ATORVASTATIN 20MG IN PATIENTS WITH DYSLIPIDAEMIA

Dyslipidemia is a known risk factor for Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Diseases (ASCVD). Statins are first choice drug for the treatment of dyslipidemia. The FDA advises a low starting dose of rosuvastatin at 5 mg/day in Asians. The present study is a randomized, open labelled study done at Victoria Hospital, Bangalore to compare the efficacy and safety of rosuvastatin 5mg versus atorvastatin 20mg in patients with dyslipidemia. A total of 60 treatment naïve adult patients with dyslipidemia were randomized into two arms of 30 each in 1:1 ratio to receive either rosuvastatin 5mg or atorvastatin 20mg. Lipid profiles at baseline and at 6^th week follow-up visit was recorded. Efficacy was assessed by mean change in lipid parameters at the end of 6 weeks and safety by recording the number and severity of adverse events reported by the patient at any time during the study. Among the 60 patients the mean difference at 6^th week from baseline for Total cholesterol, LDL, HDL and Triglyceride for the rosuvastatin and atorvastatin group were (mg/dl) -48.7, -38.6, +4.7, -20.1 and -56.6, -46.6, +4.8, -19 respectively. In both the arms, the mean differences were significant. However, no significant difference (p˃0.05) was seen in any lipid parameter between the two arms at the 6^th week. Five patients reported myalgia in the atorvastatin arm and one patient reported myalgia in the rosuvastatin arm. Hence, this study concludes that rosuvastatin at a dose of 5mg OD was found to be as efficacious as atorvastatin 20mg OD with relatively less side effects in patients with dyslipidemia.