Statin therapy: beyond cholesterol lowering and antiinflammatory effects.

Aggressive cholesterol lowering has gradually been adopted by clinicians as part of a standard treatment regimen for patients with documented coronary artery disease, including those who have had recent bypass surgery and acute coronary syndrome.1–3 According to the recently published National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP III) guidelines, those patients who have documented coronary disease should have their LDL cholesterol lowered to less than 100 mg/dL.