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The Third Report of the Expert Panel on Detection. Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Cholesterol in Adults (Adult Treatment Panel III, or ATP III) constitutes the National Cholesterol Education Program's (NCEP's) updated clinical guidelines for cholesterol testing and management. The full ATP III document is an evidence-based and extensively referenced report that provides the scientific rationale for the recommendations contained in the executive summary. ATP III builds on previous ATP reports and expands the indications for intensive cholesterol-lowering therapy in clinical practice. It should be noted that these guidelines are intended to inform, not replace, the physician's clinical judgment, which must ultimately determine the appropriate treatment for each individual.

The third ATP report updates the existing recommendations for clinical management of high cholesterol. The NCEP periodically produces ATP clinical updates as warranted by advances in the science of cholesterol management. Each of the guideline reports—ATP I, II, and III—has a major thrust. ATP I outlined a strategy for primary prevention of coronary heart disease (CHD) in persons with high levels of low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (>160 rng/dL) or those with borderline-high LDL cholesterol (130-159 mg/dL) and multiple (2+) risk factors. ATP II affirmed the importance of this approach and added a new feature: the intensive management of LDL cholesterol in persons with established CHD. For CHD patients, ATP II set a new, lower LDL cholesterol goal of <100 mg/dL. ATP III adds a call for more intensive LDL-lowering therapy in certain groups of people, in accord with recent clinical trial evidence, but its core is based on ATP I and ATP II. While ATP III maintains attention to intensive treatment of patients with CHD, its major new feature is a focus on primary prevention…