[Lipid profile in patients with newly diagnosed coronary heart disease: 2012 and 2013 cross-sectional study in Luis Vernaza Hospital, Ecuador].

INTRODUCTION

Endothelial dysfunction is an early event in the progression of atherosclerosis, and it appears in pathologies such as dyslipidemias. Certain pro-inflammatory enzymes are associated negatively with high-density lipoproteins (HDL) and positively with low-density lipoproteins (LDL). Calculating the atherogenic index greatly complements the study of these diseases. Lipid alterations have a high prevalence in Ecuadorian and Latin American populations. Better knowledge of which lipid alteration is the most prevalent would bring more attention to the subject, leading to early treatment. The goal of this study is to describe the complete lipid profile alterations in patients recently diagnosed with ischemic heart disease and find which of these is the most prevalent.

METHODS

We designed a cross-sectional, descriptive study that included patients from the Cardiology Service of the "Hospital Luis Vernaza" who presented with the first episode of ischemic heart disease between January 2012 and 2013. There were 220 patients with that diagnosis. One-hundred and thirty-one were excluded because they did not meet inclusion criteria. The final sample comprised 89 patients.

RESULTS

We found 41 (46.06%) patients with low HDL levels, 49 (55.05%) with high LDL levels, 28 (31.46%) with high triglycerides, 24 (26.96%) with high cholesterol levels, 25 (28.08%) with high VLDL levels, 26 (29.21%) had values over 5 in the Castelli index, and 32 (35.95%) had LDL/HDL values higher than 3.

DISCUSSION: It is of great importance to have a complete lipid profile from patients recently diagnosed with ischemic heart disease in order to work on secondary prevention. The most prevalent alteration found in our study was high LDL levels. The percentage of patients with low HDL was similar to other Latin American populations. More studies are needed to gain a more accurate idea of the status of the general population in this regard.