ASCVD patients post-revascularization faced significant care gaps, with only 47.9% receiving follow-up lipid panels and 19.3% having lipid-lowering therapy intensified within 15 months.
There are significant missed opportunities in clinical practice to reassess lipids and intensify lipid-lowering therapy in ASCVD patients following revascularization.
Absolute Event Rate: 0% vs 0%
ABSTRACT Background Intensive lipid‐lowering therapy (LLT) to achieve low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL‐C) levels 500 mg/dL, end‐stage renal disease, and no documented follow‐up care. The last documented LDL‐C, LLT prescribing patterns, and all follow‐up visits with primary care providers and ASCVD specialists were evaluated during post‐revascularization follow‐up (15 months). We compared patient characteristics and LLT practice patterns between patients achieving LDL‐C < 70 mg/dL (goal) and those with LDL‐C ≥ 70 mg/dL (not‐at‐goal) during a 15‐month follow‐up period. Results 119 patients were included. Within 15 months, 57 (47.9%) patients had a follow‐up lipid panel for evaluation, 27 (47.7%) of whom were at goal. Only 23 (19.3% of the entire cohort) patients had LLT intensified. Patient characteristics were similar between those at goal and not‐at‐goal except for race (fewer non‐White patients, p < 0.01) and revascularization type (more coronary revascularization, p < 0.05) in those at goal. Patients with follow‐up lipid panel(s) had significantly more ambulatory care visits (6 4–10 vs. 3 1–6, p < 0.001) and had higher rates of LLT intensification (28.1% vs. 11.3%, p < 0.001) than those without. Among patients without follow‐up lipid panels, there were 269 missed opportunities to reassess lipids and/or intensify LLT. Conclusion In this study, most revascularized ASCVD patients did not have follow‐up lipid panels, LLT intensification, and did not achieve an LDL‐C < 70 mg/dL, suggesting numerous opportunities for improvement.
“In this study, most revascularized ASCVD patients did not have follow-up lipid panels, LLT intensification, and did not achieve an LDL-C < 70 mg/dL, suggesting numerous opportunities for improvement.”
Ayers et al. (Sun,) reported a other. ASCVD patients post-revascularization faced significant care gaps, with only 47.9% receiving follow-up lipid panels and 19.3% having lipid-lowering therapy intensified within 15 months.