Methods
This study was performed at 76 sites in the United
States in accordance with the ethical principles of the
Declaration of Helsinki and the International Conference
on Harmonization/Good Clinical Practice. The protocol
was reviewed and approved by the institutional review
board of each participating center, and all participants
provided written informed consent.
Full methods have been previously reported.10 Briefly,
male or female patients aged ≥18 years could participate if
they had either (a) LDL-C ≥70 mg/dL and established CVD
or (b) LDL-C ≥100 mg/dL with coronary heart disease
(CHD) risk equivalents (eg, diabetes mellitus with other
risk factors or chronic kidney disease). All patients were
receiving a stable, maximally tolerated statin dose (defined
as atorvastatin, 40-80 mg; rosuvastatin, 20-40 mg; or
simvastatin, 80 mg daily; or lower doses provided the
investigator had a documented reason for not using the
higher dose, eg, intolerance and local practice) with or
without other LLT (bile acid sequestrant, ezetimibe, niacin,