International Task Force for Prevention of
Coronary Heart Disease

CORONARY HEART DISEASE: REDUCING THE RISK

2.6 Assessment of risk factors in secondary prevention

There is evidence that the profile of risk factors for fatal or non-fatal myocardial infarction differs to some extent between persons with and those without overt CHD or ath-erosclerosis. High LDL-cholesterol, low HDL-cholesterol, increased blood pressure, and cigarette smoking are predic-tive of recurrent CHD events in patients with preexisting CHD. Due to the greatly increased absolute risk in patients who have already suffered a myocardial infarction, cholesterol lowering is particularly effective in this group.