The 2018 AHA/ACC/Multi-Society Cholesterol guidelines: Looking at past, present and future

The authors review more than three decades of progress in providing clinicians and patients with guidance on risk assessment, patient evaluation and cholesterol management. Beginning with the National Cholesterol Education Program's Initial Adult Treatment Panel report, the cholesterol guidelines increasingly reflect the progress made in understanding the benefits of improved lifestyle and nutrition to improve lipid profiles, major risk factors and reduce ASCVD risk. Moreover, they now provide qualitative and quantitative assessment tools to guide appropriate risk reduction LDL-C lowering therapy. Use of the Pooled Cohort Equations to determine Low, Borderline, Intermediate and High 10-year ASCVD risk is now joined by recognition of conditions and biomarkers that enhance ASCVD risk. This personalizes the risk discussion for the patient. An important addition is the selective use of coronary artery calcium (CAC) scoring to reclassify risk in patients at borderline or intermediate risk, but for whom a risk decision regarding statin therapy is uncertain. In secondary prevention, current guidelines provide criteria for determining a “very high” risk group in whom risk is especially high and in whom aggressive LDL-C lowering can be shown to provide increased absolute benefit. Current guidelines provide a comprehensive look at children and adolescents, young adults, elderly, women and issues specific to women through the life course. They provide guidance for those adults at risk due to severe hypercholesterolemia, persistent hypertriglyceridemia after secondary causes have been addressed, those with inflammatory disorders and HIV, those adults with chronic kidney disease, and those affected by issues of race/ethnicity. They conclude with a brief summary of recommendations emphasizing important concepts for providing safety with LDL-C lowering therapy. This combination of best external evidence and clinical expertise from the expert panel should provide a solid foundation for lipid management of patients at risk for or with clinical ASCVD.