The cardiovascular risk chart is a simple and objective way of assessing the likelihood of experiencing a first major cardiovascular event (myocardial infarction or stroke) in the following ten years when the values of six risk factors - gender, diabetic status, smoking status, age, systolic arterial pressure and serum cholesterol – are known.

Cardiovascular risk is expressed as six MCV risk categories (from I to VI): the MCV risk category indicates how many persons out of 100 with the same characteristics will fall ill in ten years’ time.

The risk categories are expressed as:

The risk factors considered are:

gender, expressed as two categories - men and women

diabetic status, expressed as two categories - diabetic and non diabetic - according to the anamnesis

age, expressed in years and grouped into decades - 40-49, 50-59, 60-69 

cigarette smoking status, expressed as two categories - smokers and non smokers

systolic arterial pressure, expressed as mmHg; it consists of the mean of two consecutive systolic blood pressure measurements performed according to the prescribed method. It is subdivided into four categories: less than or equal to 129 mmHg, from 130 to 149 mmHg, from 150 to 169 mmHg, equal to or greater than 170 mmHg. If a person’s systolic arterial pressure is higher than 200mmHg or lower than 90 mmHg the risk assessment chart cannot be used.

serum cholesterol, expressed in mmol/l; it is subdivided into five categories, where the central value is respectively 154 mg/dl (4mmol/l), 193 mg/dl (5mmol/l), 232 mg/dl (6 mmol/l), 270 mg/dl (7 mmol/l), 309 mg/dl (8 mmol/l). If a person’s total serum cholesterol level is higher than 320 mg/dl or lower than 130 mg/dl the risk assessment chart cannot be used.

• The first interval corresponds to serum cholesterol values of less than 173 mg/dl (4.5 mmol/l);
• The second interval corresponds to serum cholesterol values of between 174 and 212 mg/dl (from 4.5 to 5.5 mmol/l);
• The third interval corresponds to serum cholesterol values of between 213 and 251 mg/dl (from 5.5 to 6.5 mmol/l);
• The fourth interval corresponds to serum cholesterol values of between 252 and 290 mg/dl (from 6.5 to 7.5 mmol/l)
• The fifth interval corresponds to serum cholesterol values of over 290 mg/dl (above 7.5 mmol/l).