Summary: | Lane B Benes1, Nikhil S Bassi2, Michael H Davidson1 1Department of Medicine, Section of Cardiology, 2Department of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA Abstract: The 2013 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association guidelines on cholesterol management placed greater emphasis on statin therapy given the well-established benefits in primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease. Residual risk may remain after statin initiation, in part because of triglyceride-rich lipoprotein cholesterol. Several large trials have failed to show benefit with non-statin cholesterol-lowering medications in the reduction of cardiovascular events. Yet, subgroup analyses showed a benefit in those with hypertriglyceridemia and lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level, a high-risk pattern of dyslipidemia. This review discusses the benefits of omega-3 carboxylic acids, a recently approved formulation of omega-3 fatty acid with enhanced bioavailability, in the treatment of dyslipidemia both as monotherapy and combination therapy with a statin. Keywords: omega-3 carboxylic acids, non-HDL-C, hypertriglyceridemia, residual risk, statin
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