VIDEO: NLA, ACC come to consensus on non-statin therapy for CVD prevention

NEW ORLEANS — In this video, Carl E. Orringer, MD, FACC, FNLA, president of the National Lipid Association and associate professor of medicine at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, discusses how the NLA and the American College of Cardiology came to an agreement on use of non-statin therapy for the prevention of atherosclerotic CVD.

At the NLA Scientific Sessions, Orringer presented an overview of the new scientific statement, published by the ACC and endorsed by the NLA.

“This is an interesting discussion because it now provides consensus between the NLA and the ACC on the management of those difficult patients who fall outside the traditional statin benefit groups,” Orringer said.

The emphasis should be on lifestyle changes first and appropriate statin dosages second, Orringer said, adding that, for patients whose lipid levels are still too high after those steps, the document focuses on when non-statin therapies should be considered.

“This is a time when we're beginning to recognize that appropriate therapies that reduce atherogenic cholesterol reduce future atherosclerotic [CVD] risk, but we always like to use evidence-based therapies whenever possible,” Orringer concluded.