Report of the Adult Treatment Panel III: the 2001 National Cholesterol Education Program guidelines on the detection, evaluation and treatment of elevated cholesterol in adults.

The ATP III report represents an important advance from previous ATP reports dating back to the late 1980s. The guidelines are more tightly evidence-based than previous reports, partly because of evolution of the guideline process, requiring clearly delineated links between evidence and recommendations and also because of the robust evidence base published over the last decade. An important change in ATP III is the expansion of the high-risk category to include patients without evident vascular disease, but with a level of risk equivalent to those patients with established CHD. This group termed "coronary heart disease equivalents" now includes patients with diabetes, and those with a 10-year absolute risk of over 20 percent for CHD events. With the ATP III report, the Framingham risk score is formally introduced into the guideline process. The scoring system allows for easy calculation of the absolute risk for an individual of having a "hard" CHD event (myocardial infarction, or CHD death). The report also discusses in detail concepts of lifetime or long-term risk. ATP III has broadened recommendations for lifestyle change termed "therapeutic lifestyle change (TLC)," and eliminated the step 1 and step 2 diet approach. Finally, the report details established approaches to improve adherence and provides patients and clinicians with a set of implementation tools to enhance use of the guidelines and compliance with the guidelines' recommendations. It is hoped that by improved understanding, recognition of a firm evidence base, and education through multiple channels, that adherence with the new ATP III guidelines will improve the care of our population by more effectively targeting lipid factors that lead to the development and progression of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.