Dyslipidemia in patients with acute myocardial infarction

At a tertiary care hospital in Colombia

Abstract

Introduction: acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is an ischemic heart disease caused by sudden blood flow obstruction that causes cellular damage and death. Dyslipidemia is AMI’s main risk factor and therefore must be characterized in different clinical contexts. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of dyslipidemia in patients with AMI treated at a tertiary care hospital.

Method: this was a retrospective, descriptive, observational, cross-sectional study. Patients over the age of 18 with AMI and a lipid profile drawn within 24 hours of admission to Hospital Universitario Hernando Moncaleano Perdomo (in Neiva), over a 40-month period, were included. Incomplete medical charts were excluded. The data was collected by the investigators using an expert-validated instrument.

Results: the prevalence of dyslipidemia in AMI was 47.6%. Acute myocardial infarction was more frequent in males (59.5%), and dyslipidemia was more frequent in females (51.5%). The most common abnormality was hypertriglyceridemia (22.6%). The mean total LDL cholesterol was 110.6 mg/dL. There were no statistically significant differences in LDL cholesterol according to the number of affected coronary vessels found on arteriography. All patients belonged to a very high cardiovascular risk group; however, 90.5% did not achieve the LDL-C goal of less than 55 mg/dL.

Conclusions: this regional study indicates low levels of lipid profile testing and scant achievement of therapeutic goals in patients with acute coronary disease and very high cardiovascular risk