The State of the Problem of Achieving Extremely Low LDL Levels

Abstract

Patients who have achieved very low low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels in clinical trials have the lowest cardio-vascular risk. The current clinical guidelines set such concentration for LDL-C as < 1.4 mmol/L. However, the question of minimum permissible target values of the lipids remains unresolved. A number of experimental and clinical studies showed some unfavorable consequences of low LDL-C levels, at the same time, the modern arsenal of lipid lowering drugs allows reducing LDL-C levels to extremely low values.