Purpose: To describe the incidence of dyslipidemia and its relation to coronary artery disease (CAD) in two brazilian populations.
Patients and methods: 1.261 subjects were analyzed; 674, whose mean age was 53 years, came from a cardiology private office (population A) and 587, whose mean age was 37 years, were employees of an engineering company (population B). Cholesterol was determined by the enzymatic method Chod-pap and LDL calculated by the Friedwald's formula.
Results: CAD was present in 35.1% of population A and in 1.4% of population B. In population A total cholesterol and LDL were above the expected, in all age groups. About 70% of these patients had cholesterol greater than 200 mg% and LDL greater than 130 mg%, which are considered desirable levels; 28% of women and 44% of men had HDL less than 35 mg%. Conversely, in population B total cholesterol and LDL were slightly above normal only in patients greater than 45 years old. In addition, about 65% of population had cholesterol less than 200 mg% and LDL less than 130 mg%; even so, 28% of women and 48% of men had HDL less than 35 mg%. In population A, there were no significant differences between the percentages of patients with and without CAD, over a wide range of cholesterol values. Similarly, levels of LDL, HDL and triglycerides as well as the incidence of hypertension, smoking and diabetes did not differ between patients with and without CAD.
Conclusion: There is a high incidence of dyslipidemia in these brazilian populations, especially among patients from private office. Further, the isolated measurement of lipid fractions does not discriminate between patients with and without DAC, suggesting that other factors are involved in the genesis of the disease.