Hyperlipidemia in Coronary Heart Disease I. LIPID LEVELS IN 500 SURVIVORS OF MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION

TLDR

The study aimed to identify hyperlipidemic survivors of myocardial infarction to serve as probands for family studies investigating the genetic basis of hyperlipidemia in coronary heart disease. Plasma cholesterol and triglyceride levels were measured after an overnight fast in 500 consecutive 3‑month survivors of myocardial infarction, including virtually all patients under 60 and a random sample of older survivors from 13 Seattle hospitals over 11 months. Among the survivors, 31% had hyperlipidemia, with hypertriglyceridemia being three times more common than isolated hypercholesterolemia, suggesting that hypertriglyceridemia may be as important a risk factor for coronary atherosclerosis as hypercholesterolemia.

Abstract

Plasma cholesterol and triglyceride levels were measured after an overnight fast in 500 consecutively studied 3-mo survivors of myocardial infarction. Virtually all patients under 60 yr of age (95% ascertainment) and a randomly chosen group of older survivors admitted to 13 Seattle hospitals during an 11 mo period were included. A comparison of their lipid values with those of 950 controls demonstrated that 31% had hyperlipidemia. These lipid abnormalities were most commonly found in males under 40 yr of age (60% frequency) and in females under 50 yr of age (60% frequency). Elevation in triglyceride levels with (7.8%) or without (15.6%) an associated elevation in cholesterol levels was three times more common in survivors than a high cholesterol level alone (7.6%). These results raise the possibility that hypertriglyceridemia may be as an important a risk factor for coronary atherosclerosis as hypercholesterolemia. The identification of hyperlipidemic survivors of myocardial infarction provided a unique source of probands for family studies designed to disclose the genetic origin of hyperlipidemia in coronary heart disease.