• Winfried März, Franz-Werner Dippel, Karlheinz Theobald, Katherine Gorcyca, Şerban R Iorga, and David Ansell.
• Synlab Academy, Mannheim, Germany; Medical Clinic V (Nephrology, Hypertensiology, Rheumatology, Endocrinology, Diabetology), Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany; Clinical Institute of Medical and Chemical Laboratory Diagnostics Medical, University of Graz, Graz, Austria. Electronic address: Winfried.Maerz@synlab.com.
• Atherosclerosis. 2018 Jan 1; 268: 99-107.

Background And AimsElevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) is a causal risk factor for cardiovascular (CV) events. European guidelines recommend reducing LDL-C as the primary lipid target to reduce CV risk, using lifestyle modifications and lipid-lowering therapy (LLT). Many European patients do not achieve guideline-recommended LDL-C levels. The present database analysis aimed to assess LLT treatment patterns and LDL-C threshold attainment in Germany in a large, real-world cohort of patients.MethodsPatients from the Cegedim Longitudinal Practice Database in Germany who met selection criteria were included: (a) LDL-C measurement in 2013; (b) ≥20 years of age; (c) high or very-high CV risk conditions: recent acute coronary syndrome (ACS), other coronary heart disease (CHD), ischemic stroke, peripheral arterial disease (PAD) (atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease [ASCVD]) or diabetes mellitus (DM) (non-ASCVD). LDL-C threshold attainment was assessed based on LDL-C targets from 2011 European guidelines.Results42,767 patients met the inclusion criteria; 35% received current statin treatment, and 30% achieved guideline-recommended LDL-C targets. Attainment of LDL-C goals among ASCVD hierarchical categories was 46.7% for recent ACS, 35.8% for ischemic stroke, 34.9% for other CHD, and 26.9% for PAD. Among patients in the non-ASCVD group with DM, 23.6% achieved LDL-C goals. Similar results were observed when patients were grouped by prevalence (patients assigned to every risk group for which they qualified).ConclusionsIn this high/very-high CV risk population in Germany, statin utilization was low; suggesting that LLTs are not prescribed as per European guidelines. These results highlight the need to increase LLT use among high-risk patients.Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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