Characteristics of patients with at least one lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] assessment and those with Lp(a) levels equal to or greater than 70 mg/dL: a real-world study in the US
Abstract Background and purpose Elevated lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] has been associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). The objective of this real-world study was to characterize the patients in the United States (US) that have an Lp(a) assessment and those with Lp(a) levels ≥70 mg/dL. Methods This is a descriptive, non-interventional, retrospective cohort study of patients with at least one Lp(a) assessment and one-year continuous enrollment prior to index date (first Lp(a) assessment in the identification period i.e. 1/1/2008–30/6/2019) using the Optum® de-identified Electronic Health Record (EHR) dataset (2007–2019) in the US. Optum's longitudinal EHR repository include more than 700 Hospitals and 7000 Clinics; treating more than 95 million patients receiving care in the US. Results 26,997 patients (50.8% females) with ≥1 Lp(a) assessment having a mean (SD) age of 52.6 (14.1) years were evaluated. Patient distribution across Lp(a) levels ≥30, ≥50, ≥70, and ≥90 mg/dL were 32.4%, 20.2%, 12.3%, and 6.6%, respectively. Patients with Lp(a) ≥70 mg/dL (N=3,314) had a mean (SD) age of 54.7 (13.2) years and 55.2% were female. The overall population that gets tested for Lp(a) and the subgroup of patients with Lp(a) ≥70 mg/dL had prior myocardial infarction (4.8% and 6.2%), prior ischemic stroke (2.2% and 2.5%), peripheral artery disease (6.7% and 8.4%), dyslipidaemia (72.6% and 80.9%), hypertension (53.0% and 60.9%), diabetes mellitus (23.5% and 26.8%) and chronic ischemic heart disease (19.6% and 24.6%) at index. The use of baseline medications included statins (37.3% and 49.1%), ACEi/ARBs (28.2% and 34.0%) and beta-blockers (19.0% and 23.6%) for the overall population and those patients with Lp(a) ≥70 mg/dL, respectively. The mean (SD) low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides and total cholesterol levels were 109.8 (39.8) mg/dL [n=7,371], 138.3 (119.3) mg/dL [n=8,179] and 190.5 (46.8) mg/dL [n=8,181], respectively for overall population and 114.8 (41.5) mg/dL [n=980], 129.6 (80.5) mg/dL [n=1,063] and 195.9 (47.6) mg/dL [n=1,056] for patients with Lp(a) ≥70 mg/dL. Conclusions Of patients with an Lp(a) assessment in the US, more than 10% had Lp(a) levels ≥70 mg/dL. These patients were frequently diagnosed with dyslipidaemia and when reported showed elevated LDL-C and total cholesterol values. Further analyses are required to better understand any differences in patient characteristics and treatment of patients across Lp(a) levels. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: Private company. Main funding source(s): Novartis Pharma AG