Patient Risk Category

A high-risk patient is someone who has coronary heart disease (CHD)* or CHD risk equivalents⁺ and is at a greater than 20% risk of having a serious cardiac complication in the next 10 years.

*CHD includes a history of heart attack, angina, coronary artery procedures such as angioplasty, or evidence of clinically significant decreased flow to the heart.
⁺CHD risk equivalents include non-heart related atherosclerotic disease such as peripheral arterial disease, abdominal aortic aneurysm, and carotid artery disease (transient ischemic attacks or stroke of carotid origin or >50% obstruction of a carotid artery), diabetes, and 2+ risk factors with a >20% risk of having serious cardiac complications.¹

A moderately high-risk patient is someone who has two or more of the following risk factors and is at a 10%-20% risk of having a serious cardiac complication in the next 10 years.¹

Risk factors include:

• Cigarette smoking
• High blood pressure (BP ≥ 140/90 mm Hg or on antihypertensive medication)
• HDL of <40 mg/dL
• Family history of premature coronary heart disease (CHD in male first-degree relative <55 years of age; CHD in female first-degree relative <65 years of age)
• Age 45 years and older (men) or 55 years and older (women)

Moderate-risk patients have 2 or more risk factors as described, and are at a <10% risk of having serious cardiac complications in the next 10 years ¹

Lower-risk patients have 0-1 risk factor for heart disease. Almost all patients with 0 or 1 risk factor have a <10% risk of having serious cardiac complication in the next 10 years, and therefore a 10-year risk assessment for heart disease in people with 0 or 1 risk factor is not necessary.