Fluvas

Fluvas is an HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor (statin) indicated as an adjunctive therapy to diet to:
Reduce elevated TC, LDL-C, Apo B, and TG, and to increase HDL-C in adult patients with primary hypercholesterolemia and mixed dyslipidemia
Reduce elevated TC, LDL-C, and Apo B levels in boys and post-menarchal girls, 10 to 16 years of age, with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia after failing an adequate trial of diet therapy
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Fluvas is an HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor (statin) indicated as an adjunctive therapy to diet to:
Reduce elevated TC, LDL-C, Apo B, and TG, and to increase HDL-C in adult patients with primary hypercholesterolemia and mixed dyslipidemia
Reduce elevated TC, LDL-C, and Apo B levels in boys and post-menarchal girls, 10 to 16 years of age, with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia after failing an adequate trial of diet therapy
Reduce the risk of undergoing revascularization procedures in patients with clinically evident CHD
Slow the progression of atherosclerosis in patients with CHD.

General Dosing Information
: Fluvastatin 20 mg to 80 mg/day. This can be administered orally as a single dose, with or without food. Do not break, crush or chew or open capsules prior to administration. Do not take two Fluvastatin 40 mg at one time. Since the maximal effect of a given dose is seen within 4 weeks, periodic lipid determinations should be performed at this time and dosage adjusted according to the patient’s response to therapy and established treatment guidelines.
Adult Patients with Hypercholesterolemia (Heterozygous Familial and Nonfamilial) and Mixed Dyslipidemia
: The recommended starting dose is one 40 mg Fluvastatin capsule in the evening, or one 40 mg capsule twice daily. Do not take two 40 mg capsules at one time. The recommended starting dose for is one 80 mg administered as a single dose at any time of the day.
Pediatric Patients (10-16 years of age) with Heterozygous Familial Hypercholesterolemia
: The recommended starting dose is one 20 mg Fluvastatin capsule. Dose adjustments, up to a maximum daily dose administered either as 40 mg twice daily or 80 mg once daily should be made at 6 week intervals. Doses should be individualized according to the goal of therapy.

Most frequent adverse reactions (rate ≥2% and > placebo) are: headache, dyspepsia, myalgia, abdominal pain and nausea.

Skeletal muscle effects (e.g. myopathy and rhabdomyolysis): Risks increase with advanced age (>65), uncontrolled hypothyroidism, renal impairment, and combination use with cyclosporine, or gemfibrozil.
Patients should be advised to report promptly any symptoms of myopathy. This therapy should be discontinued if myopathy is diagnosed or suspected.
Liver enzyme abnormalities: Persistent elevations in hepatic transaminases can occur. Check liver enzyme tests before initiating therapy and as clinically indicated thereafter.

Fluvastatin acts by competitively inhibiting HMG-CoA reductase, the enzyme for cholesterol synthesis. It reduces total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL and VLDL concentrations in plasma. It also increases HDL concentrations.