Trial reportCardiovascular ultrasound2015
Anti-inflammatory and morphologic effects of pitavastatin on carotid arteries and thoracic aorta evaluated by integrated backscatter trans-esophageal ultrasound and PET/CT: a prospective randomized comparative study with pravastatin (EPICENTRE study).
Trial report in Cardiovascular ultrasound, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- Molecular imaging of carotid artery atherosclerosis with PET: a systematic review.European journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging · 2020Pooled it
- [EJNMMI research · 2026Review
- Evidence that atherosis of the spiral artery represents atherosclerotic lesions similar to those of native and transplant-induced atherosclerosis: implications for understanding the pathophysiology of obstetrical syndromes and long-term cardiovascular risk.American journal of obstetrics and gynecology · 2025Article
- Effect of statins on arterial wall inflammation as assessed by 18F-FDG PET CT: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of inflammation (London, England) · 2024Article
- Pitavastatin: Coronary Atherosclerotic Plaques Changes and Cardiovascular Prevention.High blood pressure & cardiovascular prevention : the official journal of the Italian Society of Hypertension · 2022Review
- Carotid Artery Temperature Reduction with Statin Therapy in Patients with Familial Hyperlipidemia Syndromes.Journal of clinical medicine · 2021Article
- Arterial wall inflammation is increased in rheumatoid arthritis compared with osteoarthritis, as a marker of early atherosclerosis.Rheumatology (Oxford, England) · 2021Article
- Carotid plaque inflammatory activity assessed by 2-[18F]FDG-PET imaging decrease after a neurological thromboembolic event.EJNMMI research · 2021Article
- Effect of Statin Therapy on Arterial Wall Inflammation Based on 18F-FDG PET/CT: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Interventional Studies.Journal of clinical medicine · 2019Review
- Noninvasive Molecular Imaging of Disease Activity in Atherosclerosis.Circulation research · 2016Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
14 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundWe sought to evaluate the effects of a strong lipophilic statin (pitavastatin) on plaque components and morphology assessed by transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) and transthoracic echocardiography (TTE), as well as plaque inflammation assessed by 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET/CT in the thoracic aorta and the carotid artery. Furthermore, we compared the effects of pitavastatin with those of mild hydrophilic statin (pravastatin).
methodsWe examined atherosclerotic plaques in the thoracic aorta by TEE and those in the carotid artery by integrated backscatter (IBS)-TTE and PET/CT. We identified the target plaque, where there was macrophage infiltration and inflammation, by strong FDG uptake in the thoracic aorta and carotid arteries and measured maximum standard uptake values (max SUV) by PET/CT. We measured the intima-media thickness (IMT) and the corrected IBS (cIBS) values in the intima-media complex by TEE and TTE at the same site of FDG accumulation by PET/CT.
resultsPatients were randomly divided into two treatment groups: a pitavastatin group (PI group: n =10, 68.4 ± 5.1 years) and a pravastatin group (PR group: n =10, 63.9 ± 11.2 years). The same examinations were performed after six months at the same site in each patient. We used calculated target-to-background ratio (TBR) to measure max SUV of plaques and evaluated percent change of TBR. There was no significant difference in low density lipoprotein-cholesterol, TBR, IMT and cIBS values in plaques at baseline between the PI and PR groups. After treatment, there was greater improvement in TBR, cIBS values and IMT in the PI group than the PR group.
conclusionsThe pravastatin treatment was less effective on plaque inflammation than pitavastatin treatment. This trend was the same in the carotid arteries and the thoracic aorta. Pitavastatin not only improved the atherosis as measured by IMT and cIBS values but also attenuated inflammation of plaques as measured by max SUV at the same site. The present study indicated that pitavastatin has stronger effects on the regression and stabilization of plaques in the thoracic aorta and carotid arteries compared with pravastatin.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.