Table 5. Clinical studies with OCT imaging—evaluation of drug efficacy.

Authors	Subjects	Therapy	Outcomes	Findings
Komukai et al. (44)	70 patients with unstable angina pectoris	5 vs. 10 mg atorvastatin	Change in fibrous cap thickness	A significant increase in fibrous cap thickness was observed under 20 mg atorvastatin (69% vs. 17%; P<0.001). The increase in fibrous cap thickness was associated with the decrease in LDL-C level (R=−0.450; P<0.001), malondialdehyde-modified LDL (R=−0.283; P=0.029), high-sensitivity CRP (R=−0.276; P=0.033), and MMP-9 (R=−0.502; P<0.001), and the decrease in macrophage grade (R=−0.415; P=0.003)
Kataoka et al. (45)	275 patients with stable CAD	Standard therapy without a statin vs. low-dose statin vs. high-dose statin	Fibrous cap thickness	Patients receiving high-dose statin exhibited plaques with a smaller lipid arc (P=0.02) and a greater fibrous cap thickness (P=0.01)
Kataoka et al. (46)	280 patients with CAD	Statin therapy	Fibrous cap thickness	Achieving on-treatment LDL-C <50 mg/dL was associated with thicker fibrous cap (P=0.01) and a smaller frequency of lipid plaques (P=0.01)
	40 AMI patients who received PCI	Statin therapy vs. no statin use	Fibrous cap thickness	Greater percent change in fibrous cap thickness was observed in patients treated with a statin (188%±64% vs. 117%±39%, P<0.01). Of note, plaques with its fibrous cap thickness < median more likely exhibited its increase at a greater extent compared to lesions with fibrous cap > median
Habara et al. (47)	63 patients with CAD	Combination of fluvastatin + ezetimibe versus fluvastatin alone for 9 months	Change in fibrous cap thickness	The change in the fibrous cap thickness was significantly greater in the ezetimibe + fluvastatin group (0.08±0.08 vs. 0.04±0.06 mm, P<0.001)

AMI, acute myocardial infarction; CAD, coronary artery disease; CI, confidence interval; HR, hazard ratio; OCT, optical coherence tomography; PCI, percutaneous coronary intervention.