GREATER LOW-DENSITY LIPOPROTEIN CHOLESTEROL VARIABILITY INCREASES THE RISK OF CARDIOVASCULAR EVENTS IN PATIENTS WITH TYPE 2 DIABETES MELLITUS.

Variability in lipid levels has been associated with poor cardiovascular outcomes in patients with coronary artery disease. The aim of this study was to investigate whether low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLC) variability can be used to predict cardiovascular events in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM). A total of 5,354 patients with type 2 DM were enrolled in this study. Cardiovascular events including peripheral arterial disease, coronary artery disease, stroke, and cardiovascular death were defined as the study endpoints, and standard deviations of lipid levels were used to define intra-individual lipid variability. Univariate Cox proportional hazards analysis showed that LDL-C standard deviation (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.016; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.006 to 1.022; <.001) was associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular events. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards analysis showed that an increase in LDL-C standard deviation significantly increased the risk of cardiovascular events (HR = 1.063; 95% CI = 1.025 to 1.102; = .01). Kaplan-Meier analysis of cardiovascular event-free survival showed that the patients in tertiles 2 and 3 of the standard deviation of LDL-C had worse cardiovascular event-free survival compared to those in tertile 1. Variability in LDL-C could predict cardiovascular events in the patients with type 2 DM in this study. = coronary artery disease; = confidence interval; = cardiovascular disease; = diabetes mellitus; = estimated glomerular filtration rate; = glycosylated hemoglobin; = high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; = hazard ratio; = Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital Research Database; = low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; = standard deviation; = urine albumin to creatinine ratio.