Heart Health

Lp(a) never measured

Has Lp(a) ever been measured? No

Testlpa-not-measuredNo one has reached this rule yet

Measure it once — it is inherited and nothing else on the page reveals it

Clinical review

All reviewers

No clinician has signed off this rule yet. It reflects our reading of the guidelines cited below, which has not been independently checked.

What someone who reaches this rule is told

Word for word, as generated for the example person below. Figures in the text are theirs.

  • A test worth considering

    Ask for a lipoprotein(a) test — once, ever. It's a single blood draw and most people have never had it.

    About 1 in 5 people carry an elevated Lp(a), it's almost entirely inherited, it doesn't change much over your lifetime, and nothing else on this page would reveal it — not your cholesterol panel, not a calcium scan. Knowing it can change how aggressively your LDL should be treated, and it tells your siblings and children something about their own risk.

    Guideline consensusRecommended by the guideline writing committee, drawing on trials plus expert judgement where trials run out.· Class I· checked 2026-09-12

    NLA / European Atherosclerosis Society consensus — measure Lp(a) once in every adult · Test — worth doing once

An example person who reaches it

Low risk, nothing flagged” — an illustrative profile, not a real user.

42-year-old womanBP 118/74LDL 10010-yr PREVENT-ASCVD 0.6%

Their path through prevention essentials

  1. Known cardiovascular disease?No
  2. Has Lp(a) ever been measured?No ← this rule

Sources

Cited by the recommendations above.

What we are least sure of here

  • Q19Should test verdicts be framed as 'what decision would this change?' rather than 'worth doing'?

Review this rule

For practising clinicians. Endorse it, propose a change, or dispute it. We verify every reviewer before a review is shown, and a review stays attached to the version of the rule you saw — if the rule changes, the page says so. You'll be asked to declare any relevant interests; they're shown with your review.

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Runs in lib/engine/preventionEssentials.ts as lpa-not-measured.