All-cause and cardiovascular mortality in treated patients with severe hypertriglyceridaemia: A long-term prospective registry study.
OBJECTIVE
To examine all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in patients with severe hypertriglyceridaemia.


METHODS
337 patients aged less than 80 years (47 with diabetes, 75 women) with a fasting triglyceride concentration on at least two occasions of >5.0mmol/l were registered by 21 lipid clinics in the United Kingdom and followed prospectively between 1980 and 2008 for 4353 person-years. The standardised mortality ratio (SMR) was calculated by comparison with the general population.


RESULTS
The mean untreated total cholesterol concentration was 9.8 (SD 3.6)mmol/l for men and 11.9 (7.2)mmol/l for women and the corresponding geometric mean triglyceride concentration was 12.6 (inter-quartile range 7.3, 21.6) and 15.7 (8.2, 29.2)mmol/l. There were 70 deaths, including 35 from CHD and 7 from stroke. The SMR for CHD was raised at 327 (95% confidence intervals 228, 455; p<0.0001) and remained elevated after excluding patients with diabetes at registration (SMR=287, 95% CI 190, 419; p<0.0001), and after excluding patients with CHD at registration (SMR=259, 95% CI 158, 400; p=0.0003). The increased SMR was most marked in younger men aged 40-59 years (SMR=544, 95% CI 304, 897; p<0.0001). The SMR for stroke for patients aged 20-79 years was raised at 262 (95% CI 105, 540; p=0.04), as was all-cause mortality at 164 (95% CI 129, 208; p<0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
Severe hypertriglyceridaemia is associated with a substantially increased mortality from cardiovascular disease, even in the absence of diabetes. In addition to lowering triglyceride concentrations to reduce the risk of pancreatitis, treatment should aim to reduce the overall cardiovascular risk.
Neil
H A W
HA
NIHR School of Primary Care Research, Division Public Health & Primary Health Care, University of Oxford, Old Road, Headington, Oxford OX3 7LF, United Kingdom. andrew.neil@wolfson.ox.ac.uk
Cooper
J
J
Betteridge
D J
DJ
Capps
N
N
McDowell
I F W
IF
Durrington
P N
PN
Seed
M
M
Mann
J I
JI
Humphries
S E
SE
D000328:Adult; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015228:Hypertriglyceridemia / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000473:pathology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012042:Registries; D012306:Risk; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000378:metabolism
D014280:Triglycerides