Reduced incidence of cardiovascular complications and mortality in hyperlipoproteinemia (HLP) with effective lipid correction: The Dresden HLP Study

Abstract The influence of the efficacy of triglyceride and cholesterol correction on cardiovascular complications and mortality was analysed in a follow-up study with 260 patients with primary HLP (triglycerides before entry > 2.9 mmol/1 and/or cholesterol > 7.8 mmol/1). The follow-up time was 67.4 ± 27 months. It was hypothesised that reduction of elevated levels of triglycerides and/or cholesterol influenced favourably the incidence of angina pectoris, MI, stroke and total mortality. For ethical reasons, it was not possible to carry out the investigations with a control group. Therefore, we performed an internal comparison of 3 categories of lipid correction achieved during the trial (effective, moderate, insufficient). A substantial improvement of the lipid disorder was obtained by individualizing the therapy. Triglycerides and cholesterol decreased on average by 50% and 20%, respectively. The incidence of MI was 10 times higher than in the general population. With respect to the type of HLP, hypertriglyceridemia revealed a significantly higher incidence of MI compared with hypercholesterolemia and mixed HLP. The therapy variant was only of importance with respect to gallstone diseases accumulating in the CPIB-treated subgroups. We found a majority of cases with newly manifested angina pectoris and stroke in the group with moderate correction of both triglycerides and cholesterol. Patients with effective triglyceride and cholesterol correction suffered less frequently from MI than those with insufficient correction. This was also the case with secondary prevention in cases with MI prior to entry. There was no significant difference in the distribution of lipid categories at entry between those with and without recurrent infarction. In the group without reinfarction, however, the percentage with insufficient control diminished significantly. Associated risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes, smoking and obesity were of minor or no significance. In subjects with effective triglyceride correction, the total mortality was 0.97/1000 treatment months vs. 3.63 in insufficiently treated patients. The figures for MI mortality were 0.36 and 1.91, respectively.