Importance of HDL-c for the occurrence of cardiovascular disease in the elderly.
BACKGROUND
Studies on the impact of HDL-c and the occurrence of cardiovascular disease (CV) in the elderly are scarce.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the clinical and laboratory variables and the occurrence of CV events in elderly patients stratified according to the behavior of HDL-c during an eight-year follow up.


METHODS
We evaluated 81 elderly patients, mean age of 68.51 +/- 6.32 years (38.2% male), in two stages (A1 and A2), with a minimum interval of five years. The subjects were divided into 3 groups according to HDL-c levels: normal HDL-c in both assessments (NG) (n = 31), low HDL-c in both assessments (LG) (n = 21) and variable HDL-c in A1 and A2 (VG) (n = 29). Main CV events were recorded: coronary heart disease (angina, myocardial infarction, percutaneous / surgical myocardial revascularization), stroke, transient ischemic attack, carotid disease, dementia and heart failure.


RESULTS
The groups did not differ in gender and age in A1 and A2. Mean triglyceride levels were lower in the NG in A1 (p = 0.027) and A2 (p = 0.016) than in the LG. The distribution of CV events was as follows: 13 events in the NG (41.9%), 16 (76.2%) in the LG, and 12 (41.4%) in the VG (chi2 = 7.149, p = 0.024). The logistic regression analysis showed that the older the patient (OR = 1.187, p = 0.0230) and the lower the HDL-c (OR = 0.9372, p = 0.0102), the greater the occurrence of events CV.


CONCLUSIONS
Permanently low HDL-c during eight years of monitoring is a risk factor for the development of CV events in the elderly.
Hospital Universitário Pedro Ernesto, UERJ, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil. elizabet@rio.com.br
Elizabete Viana de
EV
Freitas
Andréa Araújo
AA
Brandão
Roberto
R
Pozzan
Maria Eliane
ME
Magalhães
Flávia
F
Fonseca
Oswaldo
O
Pizzi
Erika
E
Campana
Ayrton Pires
AP
Brandão
D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D012016:Reference Values; D012307:Risk Factors
D015415:Biomarkers; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL