The clinical therapeutic implications of the Scandinavian Simvastatin Survival Study

Results of the recent Scandinavian Simvastatin Survival Study (4S) offered major new findings on mortality and morbidity rate improvements achieved by cholesterol lowering in 4,444 patients (3,617 men, 827 women) with preexisting coronary heart disease (CHD).1 This review takes a question-and-answer approach to the description of the 4S trial methods and results, anwering most of the commonly asked questions by physicians who, in the past, have shown reluctance in aggressive correction of dyslipidemia in patients at high risk for cardiovascular disease.