European heart journal. Cardiovascular Imaging, Volume 24, Issue 11, 1 1 2023, Pages 1536-1543 Impact of statins based on high-risk plaque features on coronary plaque progression in mild stenosis lesions: results from the PARADIGM study. Park HB, Arsanjani R, Sung JM, Heo R, Lee BK, Lin FY, Hadamitzky M, Kim YJ, Conte E, Andreini D, Pontone G, Budoff MJ, Gottlieb I, Chun EJ, Cademartiri F, Maffei E, Marques H, Gonçalves PA, Leipsic JA, Lee SE, Shin S, Choi JH, Virmani R, Samady H, Chinnaiyan K, Stone PH, Berman DS, Narula J, Shaw LJ, Bax JJ, Min JK, Chang HJ
Aims
To investigate the impact of statins on plaque progression according to high-risk coronary atherosclerotic plaque (HRP) features and to identify predictive factors for rapid plaque progression in mild coronary artery disease (CAD) using serial coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA).
Methods and results
We analyzed mild stenosis (25-49%) CAD, totaling 1432 lesions from 613 patients (mean age, 62.2 years, 63.9% male) and who underwent serial CCTA at a ≥2 year inter-scan interval using the Progression of AtheRosclerotic PlAque DetermIned by Computed TomoGraphic Angiography Imaging (NCT02803411) registry. The median inter-scan period was 3.5 ± 1.4 years; plaques were quantitatively assessed for annualized percent atheroma volume (PAV) and compositional plaque volume changes according to HRP features, and the rapid plaque progression was defined by the ≥90th percentile annual PAV. In mild stenotic lesions with ≥2 HRPs, statin therapy showed a 37% reduction in annual PAV (0.97 ± 2.02 vs. 1.55 ± 2.22, P = 0.038) with decreased necrotic core volume and increased dense calcium volume compared to non-statin recipient mild lesions. The key factors for rapid plaque progression were ≥2 HRPs [hazard ratio (HR), 1.89; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.02-3.49; P = 0.042], current smoking (HR, 1.69; 95% CI 1.09-2.57; P = 0.017), and diabetes (HR, 1.55; 95% CI, 1.07-2.22; P = 0.020).
Conclusion
In mild CAD, statin treatment reduced plaque progression, particularly in lesions with a higher number of HRP features, which was also a strong predictor of rapid plaque progression. Therefore, aggressive statin therapy might be needed even in mild CAD with higher HRPs.
Clinical trial registration
ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02803411.
