Volume 15, Number 4, July-August 2008

Clinical experience with prolonged-release nicotinic acid in statin-treated patients managed in Ireland
Michael O’Reilly, Ulrike Hostalek, John Kastelein

Nicotinic acid (for treatment of low high-density lipoprotein [HDL]) combined with a statin has been shown previously to improve cardiovascular outcomes. To evaluate tolerability and safety of prolonged-release nicotinic acid added to statin therapy in patients at high cardiovascular risk, the Niaspan®-induced HDL-Elevation for Optimizing Risk Control (NEMO) study focused on 179 patients with atherogenic dyslipidaemia treated under usual-care conditions. Flushing was the most common treatment-related adverse drug reaction (ADR) in Ireland (32% flushed during the first month), followed by cutaneous (6.2%) and gastrointestinal (3.9%) ADRs. Mean HDL-cholesterol increased by 20%. Half of the patients elected to continue treatment after the study. In conclusion, the tolerability and safety of prolonged-release nicotinic acid was similar in Ireland compared with the overall NEMO population. It is important to take practical measures to optimise patient compliance to minimise overall cardiovascular risk.

Br J Cardiol 2008;15:210-14.

View full PDF article (open in new window)
Email this article