ATP III Update 2004: Implications of Recent Clinical Trials for the ATP III Guidelines

Note: On November 12, 2013, new clinical practice guidelines on this topic were published online by the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the American Heart Association (AHA) . (2013 ACC/AHA Guideline on the Treatment of Blood Cholesterol to Reduce Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Risk in Adults.

The Adult Treatment Panel III (ATP III) of the National Cholesterol Education Program issued an evidence-based set of guidelines on cholesterol management in 2001 (Executive Summary published in JAMA, 2001;285:2486-2497). Since the publication of ATP III, 5 major clinical trials of statin therapy with clinical end points have been published. These trials addressed issues that were not examined in previous clinical trials of cholesterol-lowering therapy. The present document reviews the results of these recent trials and assesses their implications for cholesterol management.