Achieving National Cholesterol Education Program goals in coronary artery disease

National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) guidelines recommend low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels <100 mg/dL for patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) and lipid-lowering therapy if LDL-C remains >100-130 mg/dL after dietary intervention. Studies consistently report that the majority of CAD patients do not achieve NCEP goals in clinical practice; we sought to determine if our practice fared better. We performed a retrospective chart review of 600 CAD patients followed by cardiologists. The mean age was 69, and 66% of patients were male. Of persons with a cardiology clinic lipid profile (60%), most (76%) achieved an LDL-C <100 mg/dL; however, only 61% were treated to the NCEP secondary goal of non-HDL-C <130 mg/dL. Of patients not at an LDL-C goal, 81% were on lipid-lowering therapy, but only 18% were on maximal statin doses and 6% on combination therapy. We concluded that the majority of CAD patients have had recent lipid measurements and are treated according to NCEP guidelines, but many patients remain on suboptimal therapy.