Management of Hyperlipidemia in Very High and Extreme Risk Patients in Croatia: an observational study of treatment patterns and lipid control

Our observational study evaluated current management of elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in adult secondary prevention patients (all very high risk (VHR) by European guidelines) attending specialist clinics across Croatia. Data were collected retrospectively from patient records for the preceding 12 months. The subset judged to be at extreme risk (ER; American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) criteria; n=48) were compared with the remaining patients (VHR group; n=41). All patients were receiving statins (75.6% VHR/81.3% ER at high-intensity), with only a minority receiving concomitant lipid-lowering treatment (7.3% VHR/16.7% ER). Median (Q1, Q3) LDL-C levels at the last visit were 1.9 (1.6, 2.4) mmol/L for VHR and 2.1 (1.5, 3.1) mmol/L for ER, with only 41.5% (95% CI 26.3-57.9) of VHR patients and 27.1% (15.3-41.9) of ER patients attaining their LDL-C targets (<1.8 mmol/L and <1.42 mmol/L, respectively). Thus, we found that a substantial proportion of VHR and ER secondary prevention patients being treated across Croatia had LDL-C levels exceeding the targets recommended in the European and newer AACE guidelines, but not all were receiving high-intensity statins. Identification of ER patients and their lipid patterns may help optimize usage of high-intensity statin treatment, alone or along with newer treatments, for better control of elevated LDL-C.