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What you need to know
Icosapent ethyl is a stable ester of eicosapentaenoic acid, an omega-3 fatty acid.
It is licensed to reduce the risk of cardiovascular (CV) events in adults who are taking a statin and are at high CV risk with moderately elevated triglycerides and established CV disease, or diabetes and at least one other CV risk factor.
In one study of people taking a statin who had CV disease or were at high risk of CV disease, the risk of ischaemic events was 17.2% with icosapent ethyl compared with 22.0% with a placebo consisting of mineral oil.
Adverse events include bleeding, atrial flutter or fibrillation, constipation, gout, musculoskeletal pain, peripheral oedema and rash.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence found that icosapent ethyl was not cost-effective for primary prevention but recommended it as an option for secondary prevention of CV disease.
Introduction
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death worldwide (causing >30% of all global deaths).1 Around 7 million people in the UK have CVD.1 The total healthcare cost of CVD in England is estimated to be £7.4 billion.1
CVD is more prevalent in men, people aged >50 years, certain ethnic backgrounds (eg, South Asian) and in areas of high deprivation.2 3 Modifiable risk factors include smoking, alcohol intake above recommended levels, lack of physical activity, unhealthy diet, high blood pressure, high blood level of non-high-density lipoprotein (non-HDL) cholesterol, diabetes, hypothyroidism, overweight and obesity.4–6 It is important to lower low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol to reduce CV risk.5 Hypertriglyceridaemia is also a risk factor for CVD and is independent of total cholesterol.4
A person’s estimated CVD risk within the next 10 years can be calculated. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline recommends using the QRISK3 tool (https://qrisk.org), for people aged between …
Footnotes
Competing interests None declared. Refer to the online supplementary files to view the ICMJE form(s).
Provenance and peer review Commissioned; externally peer reviewed.