Hypercholesterolemia and laboratory report Joint document of the Italian Society of Cardiology (SIC) and the Italian Society of Clinical Biochemistry-Laboratory Medicine (SIBioC)

Elevated plasma concentration of cholesterol bound to LDL (LDL-C) is the predominant risk factor for cardiovascular (CV) diseases. An important number of clinical trials demonstrated that the use of statins to reduce LDL-C is beneficial in terms of prevention of CV events in the entire population. Over time, specific LDL-C targets to be achieved have been established to guarantee the best outcome for the patient from the therapeutic intervention. The fundamental role of the clinical laboratory in diagnosis and treatment monitoring of dyslipidemias, requires that harmonization in the different phases of the laboratory process be pursued and achieved in order to allow the correct management of patients. The harmonization process has been the subject of national and international recommendations over time; however, a further recommendation is essential, considering that some recent evidences testify to a sub-optimal adoption of the indications by a non-negligible number of laboratories, confirming the need to repeat training and information activities. Aim of this joint document is to analyze the importance of the therapeutic targets to be achieved and the critical elements of laboratory diagnostic related to dyslipidemia, in order to provide indications for the harmonization of the reporting of the lipid profile. According to these recommendations, the lipid parameters should be reported accompanied by the therapeutic goals differentiated by the risk categories for LDL-C and non-HDL-C and by the threshold values for the other parameters. The use of comparison terms like Reference values or Normal values in the laboratory report must be definitely abandoned.