Abstract P179: Uncontrolled Cholesterol Levels In Patients With Severe Hypercholesterolemia
Introduction: The 2018 American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology cholesterol guidelines recommends patients who have phenotypic severe hypercholesterolemia (SH), defined as a low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-c) > 190 mg/dL, be started on maximally tolerated statin therapy without further risk stratification due to high risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD). SH patients on guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) should have 50% reduction in their LDL-c levels, with optimal being < 100 mg/dL for primary prevention and <70 mg/dL for secondary prevention. The 2019 European Society of Cardiology/European Atherosclerosis Society cholesterol guidelines recommend an optimal LDL-c level < 55 mg/dL. Hypothesis: LDL-c levels vary by intensity of medication and are not at target in patients with SH in a large rural healthcare system. Methods: We used an electronic medical record-based SH registry defined by ever having an LDL-c > 190 mg/dL since 01/01/2000 (n=17,925) at Essentia Health (MN, WI, and ND). In this cross-sectional study, patients were excluded if they had: no recent visit within the past 5 years (n=209), <20 or >75 years (n=3,153), listed as being on a statin but intensity was unavailable (n=1,934), or had no recent lab (n=998). Methods: We included 12,283 patients (68.5%)(mean age 59.4 + 10.1 years; 59.5% female) with SH and of these only 22.9% were on a high-intensity statin or proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 inhibitor. Of the patients that were not on any lipid-lowering therapy (n=4,971; 40.5%), only 16.8% (n=837) had a statin allergy or intolerance documented. Figure 1 shows the most recent LDL-c levels; <10% of patients in each group had a most-recent LDL-c <70 mg/dL, and 9.4% had an LDL-c <55mg/dL. Conclusions: Most SH patients remain untreated or undertreated with GDMT with recent LDL-c levels above target. More aggressive lipid-lowering therapy in patients with SH is needed to reduce risk of CVD.