A 58-year-old woman comes to the emergency room with chest pain. She describes the pain as a squeezing sensation in her chest with radiation to the left shoulder. The episode began about 15 minutes ago when she was sitting reading a book. She has had this pain before, typically in the evenings, though prior episodes usually resolved after a couple of minutes. An ECG shows ST-segment elevations in the inferior leads and undergoes an urgent coronary intervention with stent placement into the right coronary artery. She is also started on high-intensity atorvastatin therapy, along with antiplatelet therapy and appropriate medications to control blood pressure. Four weeks later, the patient's total cholesterol level is 140 mg/dL, down from 200 mg/dL before discharge. Which of the following has most likely increased as the result of the therapy?

Question

A 58-year-old woman comes to the emergency room with chest pain. She describes the pain as a squeezing sensation in her chest with radiation to the left shoulder. The episode began about 15 minutes ago when she was sitting reading a book. She has had this pain before, typically in the evenings, though prior episodes usually resolved after a couple of minutes. An ECG shows ST-segment elevations in the inferior leads and undergoes an urgent coronary intervention with stent placement into the right coronary artery.  She is also started on high-intensity atorvastatin therapy, along with antiplatelet therapy and appropriate medications to control blood pressure.  Four weeks later, the patient's total cholesterol level is 140 mg/dL, down from 200 mg/dL before discharge.  Which of the following has most likely increased as the result of the therapy?

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Eductional Objective: Treatment with statins causes hepatocytes to increase their LDL receptor density, leading to increased uptake of circulating LDL.

A 58-Year-Old Woman Comes to the Emergency Room with Chest