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.