BACKGROUND: Studies on the impact of HDL-c and the occurrence of cardiovascular disease (CV) in the elderly are scarce. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical and laboratory variables and the occurrence of CV events in elderly patients stratified according to the behavior of HDL-c during an eight-year follow up. METHODS: We evaluated 81 elderly patients, mean age of 68.51 ± 6.32 years (38.2% male), in two stages (A1 and A2), with a minimum interval of five years. The subjects were divided into 3 groups according to HDL-c levels: normal HDL-c in both assessments (NG) (n = 31), low HDL-c in both assessments (LG) (n = 21) and variable HDL-c in A1 and A2 (VG) (n = 29). Main CV events were recorded: coronary heart disease (angina, myocardial infarction, percutaneous / surgical myocardial revascularization), stroke, transient ischemic attack, carotid disease, dementia and heart failure. RESULTS: The groups did not differ in gender and age in A1 and A2. Mean triglyceride levels were lower in the NG in A1 (p = 0.027) and A2 (p = 0.016) than in the LG. The distribution of CV events was as follows: 13 events in the NG (41.9%), 16 (76.2%) in the LG, and 12 (41.4%) in the VG (χ2 = 7.149, p = 0.024). The logistic regression analysis showed that the older the patient (OR = 1.187, p = 0.0230) and the lower the HDL-c (OR = 0.9372, p = 0.0102), the greater the occurrence of events CV. CONCLUSION: Permanently low HDL-c during eight years of monitoring is a risk factor for the development of CV events in the elderly.
Cholesterol HDL; Cardiovascular Diseases; Aging
