title: The 2013 ACC/AHA cardiovascular prevention guidelines improve alignment of statin therapy with coronary atherosclerosis as detected by coronary computed tomography angiography.
abstract: The recently released 2013 ACC/AHA guidelines for management of blood cholesterol have substantially increased the number of adults who are eligible for preventive statin therapy. We sought to determine whether eligibility for statin therapy as determined by the 2013 ACC/AHA guideline recommendation is better aligned with the actual presence of coronary artery disease (CAD) as detected by coronary CT angiography (CCTA) when compared to prior guidelines including the 2004 NCEP ATP III and 2011 ESC/EAS guidelines. In this secondary analysis of the prospective observational ROMICAT I (Rule Out Myocardial Infarction with Computer Assisted Tomography) cohort study, we included all men and women aged 40-79 years presenting with acute chest pain but not diagnosed with acute coronary syndrome nor on admission statin. Based on risk factor assessment and lipid data, we determined guideline-based eligibility for statin therapy by the 2013 ACC/AHA, the 2004 NCEP ATP III, and the 2011 ESC/EAS guidelines. We determined the presence and severity of CAD as detected by CCTA. The 2013 ACC/AHA algorithm identified nearly twice as many individuals as eligible for statins (n = 77/189; 41%) as compared to the 2004 ATP III criteria: (n = 41/189; 22%), (p < .0001) In addition, the 2013 ACC/AHA guidelines were more sensitive for treatment of CCTA-detected CAD than the 2004 ATP III guidelines [53.4% (42.5-64.1) vs 27.3% (18.3-37.8), p < .001] and the 2011 ESC/EAE guidelines [53.4% (42.5-64.1) vs 34.1% (24.3-45.0), p < .001]. However, the specificity of these guidelines was modestly reduced compared to the 2004 ATP III guidelines [70.3 (60.4-79.0) vs 83.2 (74.4-89.9), p < .001] and the 2011 ESC/EAE guidelines [70.3 (60.4-79.0) vs 86.1 (77.8-92.2), p < .001], suggesting increased treatment of subjects without CCTA-detected CAD. Overall, the 2013 ACC/AHA guidelines are more sensitive to identify patients who have CAD detected by CCTA eligible for statin therapy as compared with prior guidelines, with an acceptable trade-off in specificity for recommending statin therapy in those without CAD.
authors.affiliation: Cardiac MR PET CT Program, Division of Cardiology and Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 165 Cambridge Street, Suite 400, Boston, MA 02114, USA. Electronic address: amit.pursnani@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Amit
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pursnani
authors.affiliation: Cardiac MR PET CT Program, Division of Cardiology and Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 165 Cambridge Street, Suite 400, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mayrhofer
authors.affiliation: Cardiac MR PET CT Program, Division of Cardiology and Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 165 Cambridge Street, Suite 400, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
authors.forename: Maros
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ferencik
authors.affiliation: Cardiac MR PET CT Program, Division of Cardiology and Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 165 Cambridge Street, Suite 400, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
authors.forename: Udo
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Hoffmann
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000465:Algorithms; D000572:American Heart Association; D002309:Cardiology / Q000592:standards*; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000517:prevention & control; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000517:prevention & control; D064887:Observational Studies as Topic; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012955:Societies, Medical; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors
keywords: Atherosclerosis; Computed tomography; Guidelines; Prevention; Statin