Table 2. Serial intravascular ultrasound studies of plaque composition.

Study	Year	Design	Treatment	N	Follow-up	LDL-C		Tissue characterization	Results
						at baseline	at follow-up
Mild to moderate intensity statin studies
Yokoyama et al.	2005	RCT	Atorvastatin 10 mg Control	20 22	6 months	133 N/A	87 N/A	IB-IVUS	LLT reduced plaque volume and changed plaque composition
Kawasaki et al.	2005	RCT	Atorvastatin 20 mg Pravastatin 20 mg Control	17 18 17	6 months	155 149 152	95 102 149	IB-IVUS	LLT reduced lipid component without changes in plaque volume
Nasu et al.	2009	OBS	Fluvastatin 60 mg Control	40 39	12 months	144.9 122.3	98.1 121.0	VH-IVUS	LLT reduced plaque volume with reducing fibro-fatty volume
Hong et al.	2009	RCT	Simvastatin 20 mg Rosuvastatin 10 mg	50 50	12 months	119 116	78 64	VH-IVUS	LLT reduced necrotic core and increased in fibro-fatty volume
Toi et al.	2009	RCT	Atorvastatin 10 mg Pitavastatin 2 mg	80 80	2–3 weeks	122.0 114.7	85.3 74.8	IB-IVUS	LLT with pitavastatin reduced plaque and fibro-fatty volume
Nozue et al.	2012	RCT	Pitavastatin 4 mg Pravastatin 20 mg	58 61	8 months	126 137	74 95	VH-IVUS	LLT reduced fibro-fatty volume with increasing calcified plaque component
Hattori et al.	2012	OBS	Pitavastatin 4 mg Control	26 16	9 months	134 122	89 122	IB-IVUS	LLT reduced plaque and lipid volume
High intensity statin studies
Lee et al.	2012	RCT	Atorvastatin 40 mg Atorvastatin 10 mg	57 54	6 months	112.4 122.4	52.1 68.5	VH-IVUS	LLT with high-dose statin reduced plaque and fibro-fatty volume
Park et al.	2016	RCT	Rosuvastatin 40 mg Rosuvastatin 10 mg	152 73	12 months	105.3 109.3	59.1 78.8	VH-IVUS	LLT reduced plaque and necrotic core volume with decreasing thin-cap fibroatheroma rate

RCT: randomized controlled trial; OBS: observational study: IB-IVUS: integrated backscatter intravascular ultrasound; VH-IVUS; virtual histology intravascular ultrasound; LLT: lipid-lowering therapy