title: Lipid clinics are urgently required in the Iranian public health system.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Lipid Clinics are specialized centers for clinical assessment and follow up of patients with dyslipidaemia in order to deliver an acceptable improvement in their lipid profiles. We assessed the changes in lipid profile of dyslipidemic patients attending a Lipid Clinic over a 1 year period on lipid-lowering therapy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Dyslipidemic patients (n=238) were recruited from the Lipid Clinic at the Royal Surrey County Hospital, Guildford, UK. All patients were regularly seen at the clinic and the compliance of lipid-lowering drug consumption, prescribed by the consultant was assessed over a period of one year.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean age of the patients was 55.2 ± 0.86 years and the male/female ratio was 143/95. The lipid profiles of patients attending the Lipid Clinic over the period of one year of close monitoring changed significantly. Triglyceride, total cholesterol and low density lipoprotein cholesterol were reduced by 27.04%, 20.48% and 22.67%, respectively (P<0.001) and high density lipoprotein cholesterol rose by 8.96% (P<0.001); the 10-year calculated coronary risk factor of all patients decreased significantly (39.29%, P<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings confirmed the effectiveness of a Lipid Clinic in the management of lipid profile and cardiovascular risk of dyslipidemic patients.
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Research Center, Avicenna (Bu-Ali) Research Institute, Mashhad University of MedicalScience, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Majid
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ghayour-Mobarhan
authors.forename: Seyyed Mohammad Reza
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Kazemi-Bajestani
authors.forename: Gordon
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ferns