Abstract
Combination pharmacotherapy is frequently being used in patients at hogh cardiovascular risk due to an accumulation of risk factors. Potential and real drug-drug interactions represent one of the important barriers to implementing quideline-recommended treatment strategies, but even more important might be decreasing adherence.
One of the most feasible options seems to be fixed-dose combinations that have been used for the treatment of arterial hypertension and diabetes for some time. There are a few fixed-dose combinations of lipid lowering drugs currently available, such as the statin + ezetimibe combo and, more recently, statin + fenofibrate.
The optiion of fixed-dose combinations of lipid lowering agent with another representative drug class will soon become available. This will result in a simplification of drug regime, leading to better adherence to pharmacological treatment and a consequent reduction of residual cardiovascular risk.