Background and aims:
Elevated lipoprotein(a) is an independent risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease especially in familial hypercholesterolemia. The association of elevated lipoprotein(a) within non-familial hypercholesterolemia or healthy population however, is not known. Therefore, we investigated the associations between elevated lipoprotein(a) and the risk of cardiovascular disease in a non-familial hypercholesterolemia clinically healthy young age cohort.
Methods:
In this retrospective cohort study, we reviewed medical records of 3,427 participants with lipoprotein(a) levels from a tertiary healthcare center in Taiwan. We further classified lipoprotein(a) level into four groups and analyzed cardiovascular events.
Results:
Our study population had a mean age 46 years old that were 78% male. Mean total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein level were 195 mg/dL and 118 mg/dL respectively. Overall, 12.9% of the participants had an elevated lipoprotein(a) level (>30 mg/dL), and 2.7% had a very high level (>70 mg/dL). Thirty-three events including 6 participants with stroke and 27 with coronary artery disease were identified. A lipoprotein(a) level >70 mg/dL was associated with a higher risk of coronary artery disease events in Kaplan-Meier analysis. Aging was associated with a higher lipoprotein(a) value in the male participants but not in the female participants. However, the severity of fatty liver was not positively associated with lipoprotein(a) value.
Conclusions:
Elevated lipoprotein(a) was associated with coronary events but not the severity of fatty liver disease in non-familial hypercholesterolemia clinically healthy population. Aging may be associated with a higher lipoprotein(a) level in males but not females.
Lipoprotein(a) level associates with coronary artery disease rather than carotid lesions in patients with familial hypercholesterolemia
