Hyperlipidemia in peripheral atherosclerotic arterial disease

One hundred and ten patients with radiologically established peripheral atherosclerotic arterial disease were studied. None of them suffered from diabetes, endocrine disorders or renal disease. Their serum cholesterol and triglyceride values were compared with those of a reference group consisting of 548 individuals. When the 95th percentile of the reference values was used for cut-off, the frequency of hyperlipidemias in the patients with peripheral arterial atherosclerosis was about 52%. Combined hyperlipidemia was slightly more common (21%) than isolated increase of either cholesterol (17.9%) or triglycerides (12.6%). Using other cut-off limits for the definition of hyperlipidemia, a striking change in the distribution between these three types of hyperlipidemia occurred. In our patients, the frequencies of different blood groups were not significantly different from those of a comparable population. The serum lipids were at the same level in the different blood groups.