Laboratory procedures in preventive cardiology

In recent years a large number of coronary artery disease risk factors were discovered. The knowledge of these factors improves the estimate of the co ronary artery disease (CAD) risk - however it still remains to be only an " estimate". A perfect prediction of an upcoming CAD event is not possible, d espite all high score laboratory technology Therefore the use of specialize d laboratory procedures should be applied carefully. Knowing the blood levels of cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL- and LDL-choles terol and Lp(a) can be sufficient for many therapeutical decisions. Severe dyslipidemia, familial CAD and CAD without any obvious reasons demand a mor e specialized work-up, however, risk stratification factors such as family history, clinical history (CAD, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, smoker) an d genetics are crucial, apart from the above mentioned laboratory values. Purely on the basis of the lipidologic baseline concentrations we can't giv e well based recommendations for the treatment of individual patients. Curr ently there are expert systems available which allow a risk estimate once i mportant laboratory values (LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, Triglycerides ) as well as clinical data (blood pressure, family history, clinical histor y) are available. This system can be accessed by internet under,,http :www. chd-taskforce.com".