[Lipid management 2020 - medical therapy and lipid apheresis in context]

The recently updated 2019 European Society of Cardiology/European Atherosclerosis Society Guidelines for the management of dyslipidaemias set new, ambitious goals for lipid lowering based on recently generated evidence from large outcome trials. Noninvasive imaging as well as measurement of lipoprotein(a) as a non-traditional risk factor is advocated for the refinement of risk stratification. A highly potent statin - defined as a drug that lowers LDL-cholesterol by 50 % from baseline - is recommended as the standard choice of treatment, whenever medical lipid lowering is indicated. Combining different therapeutic strategies such as a statin with ezetimibe and/or a Proproteinkonvertase Subtilisin Kexin Type 9 inhibitor allows to achieve the new treatment targets. If needed, lipid apheresis can complement the medical armamentarium. Moreover, lipid apheresis remains the only approved treatment modality for lowering lipoprotein(a), however medical treatments are under current investigation.