Aims: We sought to evaluate reports that rosuvastatin 10 mg is a more efficacious treatment of hyperlipidaemia than is simvastatin 40 mg, hoping to assess this issue in the previously unstudied context of acute myocardial infarction.
Methods and results: The Secondary Prevention of Acute Coronary Events - Reduction of Cholesterol to Key European Targets (SPACE ROCKET) Trial was an investigator-led, open-label, blinded-endpoint, multicentre, randomized, controlled trial assessing the proportion of patients, at 3 months, achieving European Society of Cardiology 2003 (ESC-03) lipid targets of total cholesterol (TC) less than 4.5 mmol/l (174 mg/dl) or low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLc) less than 2.5 mmol/l (97 mg/dl). Of 1263 patients randomized, 77.6% simvastatin versus 79.9% rosuvastatin achieved ESC-03 targets [odds ratio (OR): 1.16; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.88-1.53; P = 0.29]. There were statistically significant differences for simvastatin versus rosuvastatin, respectively, for mean LDLc 2.03 mmol/l (78 mg/dl) versus 1.94 mmol/l (75 mg/dl; P = 0.009) and also mean TC 3.88 mmol/l (150 mg/dl) versus 3.75 mmol/l (145 mg/dl; P = 0.005). A post-hoc analysis showed higher achievement of the new ESC, American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology optimal lipid target of LDLc less than 1.81 mmol/l (70 mg/dl) with rosuvastatin (45.0%) compared with simvastatin (37.8%; OR: 1.37; 95% CI: 1.09-1.72; P = 0.007). The proportion of patients achieving the Fourth Joint Task Force European Guidelines (2007) of TC less than 4.0 mmol/l (155 mg/dl) and LDLc less than 2.0 mmol/l (77 mg/dl) was 38.7% for simvastatin 40 mg and 47.7% for rosuvastatin 10 mg (OR: 1.48; 95% CI: 1.18-1.86; P = 0.001).
Conclusion: We observed no superiority of either treatment for the ESC-03 lipid targets. Rosuvastatin 10 mg lowered mean cholesterol more effectively than simvastatin and achieved better results for the latest, more stringent, ESC target.