Abstract P494: Association of Lipid Components With Mortality,Myocardial Infarction, and Stroke in Statin-Naïve Young Adults: A Nationwide Cohort Study

Abstract

Background: Dyslipidemia is a modifiable cardiovascular risk factor with prognostic implications. Current strategies for lipid management in young adults are largely based on expert recommendations. We sought to investigate the risk of death and cardiovascular disease in relation to lipid components to establish evidence for primary prevention in young adults. Methods: In a nationwide cohort using the National Health Insurance claims database, we analyzed 5,688,055 statin-naïve subjects, aged 20-39 years, undergoing health check-up between 2009 and 2014. The study endpoint was a composite of clinical events, including death, myocardial infarction (MI), and stroke. We compared the incidence and the risk of clinical events according to lipid variables, including total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and triglycerides. Results: During follow-up (median 7.1 years), clinical events occurred in 30,330 subjects (0.53%); 16,262 deaths (0.29%), 8,578 MIs (0.15%), and 5,967 strokes (0.10%). The risk of clinical events gradually increased with increasing TC and triglycerides, and decreasing HDL-C, with a great contribution by MI. LDL-C had a J-shaped association with the study endpoint, showing the lowest risk in LDL-C of 84-101 mg/dL. Among lipid variables, triglycerides remained the sole independent predictor (adjusted HR 1.20, p <0.001), after adjusting for conventional risk factors. Conclusions: In ‘statin-naïve’ young adults aged 20-39 years, the risk of clinical events was proportional to lipid levels; positively with TC and triglycerides, negatively with HDL-C, and J-shaped with LDL-C. Triglycerides had the strongest and independent association with clinical events. Screening and intervention of abnormal lipid levels, particularly triglycerides, from an early age might be required.