Cardiovascular risk and statin eligibility in primary prevention: A comparison between the brazilian and the aha/acc guidelines

Abstract

Background: Differences between the updated versions of the Brazilian Guideline on Dyslipidemias and the American Heart Association (AHA)/American College of Cardiology (ACC) Cholesterol Guideline regarding cardiovascular risk stratification and statin eligibility are unknown. Objectives: To compare cardiovascular risk categorization and statin eligibility based on the Brazilian guideline with those based on the AHA/ACC guideline in primary prevention patients. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed individuals aged 40-74 years without high-risk conditions, with LDL-c 70 to < 190 mg/dL, not on lipid-lowering drugs, who underwent routine clinical assessment. Cardiovascular risk was stratified according to the Brazilian and the AHA/ACC guidelines. Subjects were considered eligible for statin therapy if LDL-c was at least 30 mg/dL above the target for the cardiovascular risk (Brazilian guideline) or the 10-year atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk was ≥7.5% (AHA/ACC guideline). A p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The study sample consisted of 18,525 subjects (69% male, age 48 ± 6 years). Among subjects considered at intermediate or high risk by the Brazilian guideline, over 80% would be in a lower risk category by the AHA/ACC guideline. Among men, 45% and 16% would be statin eligible by the Brazilian and the AHA/ACC guidelines criteria, respectively (p < 0.001). Among women, the respective proportions would be 16% and 1% (p < 0.001). Eighty-two percent of women and 57% of men eligible for statins based on the Brazilian guideline criterion would not be eligible according to the AHA/ACC guideline criterion. Conclusions: Compared with the AHA/ACC guideline, the Brazilian guideline classifies a larger proportion of primary prevention patients into higher-risk categories and substantially increases statin eligibility.