Serum lipids and high density lipoprotein cholesterol in peripheral vascular disease.

Serum lipids and high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol concentrations were measured in 32 patients with peripheral vascular diseases (PVD) and 38 control subjects. Hypertriglyceridaemia (> 1.8 mmol/l) was significantly more common in PVD patients of both sexes than among controls but mean serum triglyceride levels were significantly higher only among males. Hypercholesterolaemia (> 7 mmol/l) was not more common in PVD patients nor did mean serum total cholesterol or HDL cholesterol levels differ significantly from control subjects. The HDL ratio, however, was significantly reduced in both males and females with PVD. These results suggest that expressing the amount of cholesterol carried in HDL in relative terms is a better index of vascular risk than is its absolute concentration. The HDL cholesterol level and the HDL ratio were both significantly lower in controls who smoked than in non-smokers; this may explain the reduced HDL ratio in PVD patients, most of whom were smokers.