The 2013 ACC/AHA Cholesterol Management Guideline: Clearing the Confusion from Noncontroversial Components.

Abstract

The 2013 cholesterol-management guideline from the American College of Cardiology (ACC)/American Heart Association (AHA) was published in November 2013.1 On the basis of high-quality evidence and data from randomized controlled trials, this guideline recommends a risk–benefit discussion regarding statin therapy in 4 statin-benefit groups: patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD); patients with low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels ≥190 mg/dL; patients with diabetes mellitus of age 40 to 75 years; and patients with estimated 10-year ASCVD risk ≥7.5% on the basis of an ASCVD risk estimator derived from the pooled-cohort risk equation. Moderate- to high-intensity statin therapy is recommended for these patient groups. Moderate-intensity statin therapy is defined as statin therapy that lowers LDL-C 30% to <50%. High-intensity statin therapy lowers LDL-C ≥50%.