ACC/AHA Guidelines for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention and Cholesterol Management:Implications of New Therapeutic Agents^a

In2014theAmericanCollegeofCardiology/AmericanHeartAssociationissuedfournewguidelinesforcardiovasculardiseasepreventionthatfocusedoncardiovascularriskassessment,lifestylemanagement,obesitymanagement,andbloodcholesterolmanagement.Thedevelopmentofanatheroscleroticcardiovasculardiseaseriskcalculatorformedthebasisoftheriskassessmentguideline,andthelifestylemanagementguidelinefocusedonrecommendinganevidence-baseddietarypattern.Thebloodcholesterolmanagementguidelinespecificallyidentifiedfourgroupsofpatientsshowntobenefitfrommoderate-intensityorhigh-intensitystatintherapyfrompreviousclinicaltrialsandabandonedtheuseofspecificlow-densitylipoprotein(LDL)cholesterol(LDL-C)goallevelsonthebasisofthelackofclinicaltrialevidence.Therecommendationsfortreatmentwithmoderate-intensityorhigh-intensitystatintherapyarebasedonrigorousevidencefromrandomizedclinicaltrials.Guidancehassincebeenprovidedfortheuseofnonstatintherapies,includingcholesterolabsorptioninhibitorandproproteinconvertasesubtilisin/kexintype9monoclonalantibodytherapywhenadequatereductionofLDL-Clevelsisnotachievedwithmaximallytoleratedstatintherapy.TherecentdevelopmentandapplicationofthesetherapieshaveresultedinremarkablereductionsinLDL-Clevelsthatarewelltolerated,andpreliminaryoutcomedataarepromisinginshowingsubstantialatheroscleroticcardiovasculardiseaseeventreductionsbeyondstatintherapy.