The characteristics of two LDL-cholesterol level reduction treatment strategies, “treat-to-target” and “percent reduction”: an observational study without intervention

BACKGROUND: The 2014 ACC/AHA guidelines redefined the strategy for LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) treatment. According to data from evidence-based studies, the basis for earlier therapeutic recommendations for LDL-C target levels (2.6 and 1.8 mmol/L) may be disputed, and only the data for the percent LDL-C reduction are objective. The target is a moderate intensity (30–50%) LDL-C reduction in the high cardiovascular (CV) risk group, and a high intensity LDL-C reduction (> 50%) in the very high risk group. In our study, we analysed the success of the two types of strategies in attaining the target in the everyday routine. METHODS: Of 5652 patients suffering from hypercholesterolemia, 4302 underwent treat-to-target treatment, and 1350 patients were treated with a percent reduction strategy. Physicians were free to choose the dosage and the target treatment form. The 12-month study included three follow-up visits. RESULTS: In the high CV risk, statin-naive subgroup the percent LDL-C reduction strategy has been proven to be clearly more successful than the treat-to-target strategy, i.e. a higher proportion of patients reached the target values. We observed that the absolute value corresponding to a percent reduction target is higher if the baseline LDL-C is higher, and therefore it is easier to reach. CONCLUSION: Therefore, in this large subgroup of patients with baseline LDL-C level higher than 3.9 mmol/L may be recommended the adaptation of the percent reduction assessment.