[The treatment of refractory hyperlipoproteinemias]

The authors have studied a group of 25 patients treated with an HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor associated with DEAE-dextran, a safe and useful drug for the treatment of dyslipidemia. The patients were selected from a group of subjects previously submitted to long-term treatment with an HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor only who had failed to achieve normal cholesterol blood levels. The combined treatment with DEAE-dextran (1.5 g 3 times daily) and simvastatin (20 mg once daily) for 90 days lead to a further significant decrease in cholesterol and triglyceride blood levels. These findings confirm the validity of the association of an ion exchange resin with an HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor in the treatment of refractory dyslipidemias.