Lipoprotein (a) levels are not associated with carotid plaques and carotid intima media thickness in statin-treated patients with familial hypercholesterolemia. Issue 1 (September 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bos, Sven; Duvekot, Martijne H.C.; Touw-Blommesteijn, Adriana C.; Verhoeven, Adrie J.M.; Mulder, Monique T.; Watts, Gerald F.; Sijbrands, Eric J.G.; Roeters van Lennep, Jeanine E.
• Is Part Of: Atherosclerosis. Volume 242:Issue 1(2015)
• Page Start: 226
• Page End: 229
• Publication Date: 2015-09
• Subjects: Arteriosclerosis -- Periodicals; Electronic journals; 616.136
• DOI: 10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2015.07.024
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0021-9150

Abstract

<abstract xml:lang="en" abstract-type="author" id="abs0010"> <title id="sectitle0010">Abstract</title> <sec> <title id="sectitle0015">Background</title> <p id="abspara0010">Lipoprotein (a), also called Lp(a), is a cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factor. Statins do not lower Lp(a), this may at least partly explain residual CVD risk in statin-treated patients with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH). We investigated the association of Lp(a) levels with atherosclerosis in these patients.</p> </sec> <sec> <title id="sectitle0020">Methods and results</title> <p id="abspara0015">We performed ultrasonography in 191 statin-treated FH patients (50% men; 48 ± 15 years) to detect carotid plaques and determine carotid intima-media thickness (C-IMT).</p> <p id="abspara0020">Patients with high versus low Lp(a) levels (≤0.3 g/L) had similar plaque prevalence (36 and 31%, p = 0.4) and C-IMT (0.59 ± 0.12 and 0.59 ± 0.13 mm, p = 0.8). Patients with and without plaques had similar Lp(a) levels (median 0.35 (IQR: 0.57) and 0.24 (0.64) g/L, respectively, p = 0.4).</p> </sec> <sec> <title id="sectitle0025">Conclusions</title> <p id="abspara0025">The Lp(a) levels were not associated with atherosclerosis in the carotid arteries of statin-treated FH patients. This suggests that adequate statin treatment delays carotid atherosclerosis in FH independently of Lp(a) levels.</p> </sec> </abstract>