Efficacy of rosuvastatin (5 mg and 10 mg) twice a week in patients intolerant to daily statins.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of rosuvastatin twice weekly in 40 patients intolerant to daily statins. Rosuvastatin twice weekly alone or added to other lipid-lowering medications decreased total cholesterol by 19%, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol by 26%, and triglycerides by 14% (p<0.01 for all). High-density lipoprotein cholesterol did not change. Eight of the 40 patients (20%) discontinued twice-weekly rosuvastatin treatment because of muscle-related symptoms, during an average of 8 weeks of treatment. In conclusion, rosuvastatin twice weekly reduced total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides and was well tolerated, but determining long-term tolerability requires more prolonged treatment.