# Cholesterol Trial Finds Similar Outcomes With Two Starting Drug Strategies

Ez-PAVE compared starting a statin alone with starting a statin plus ezetimibe, while allowing treatment changes to reach LDL targets.

By Will Langan | 24X7 News
Published: 2026-11-07T22:02:34.893Z
Updated: 2026-11-07T22:07:33.358Z
Section: Health
Format: News
Canonical: https://24x7news.us/articles/ez-pave-statin-ezetimibe-starting-treatment-november-7-2026

Starting cholesterol treatment with a statin alone or a statin plus ezetimibe produced similar cardiovascular-event rates in an Ez-PAVE analysis released November 7 by the American Heart Association.

The randomized comparison involved 3,048 adults with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease at 17 South Korean hospitals. Participants were separately assigned an LDL-cholesterol goal, and medications could change during follow-up to reach it.

Over three years, the combined outcome of cardiovascular death, heart attack, stroke, artery-opening procedures or hospitalization for unstable angina occurred in 8.5% starting combination treatment and 7.9% starting a statin alone. The difference was not statistically significant.

This was a comparison of starting strategies, rather than permanently fixed drug regimens. Substantial numbers starting a statin alone later received ezetimibe under the protocol.

Safety outcomes were similar. The study may have been too small or too short to detect modest differences, was open-label, and included predominantly men in South Korea, limiting generalizability. The association said the analysis was simultaneously published in Circulation.

## Sources
- American Heart Association — Ez-PAVE second randomization, November 7, 3:45 p.m. Central: https://newsroom.heart.org/news/starting-with-a-statin-or-statin-plus-ezetimibe-to-lower-ldl-led-to-similar-heart-outcomes
- Image — Whispyhistory, Simvastatin varieties, January 7, 2021; CC BY-SA 4.0: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Simvastatin_varieties.jpg
- Image license — CC BY-SA 4.0; resized/branded derivative under same license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/