BMJ 1994;309:668 (10 September)

Letters

Triglyceride concentration and coronary heart disease High concentrations need treatment

EDITOR, - Alan M Garber and Andrew L Avins state that use of the triglyceride concentration to guide lipid lowering treatment "must still be seen as experimental."1 I suggest that measurement of fasting plasma triglyceride concentrations should be mandatory in any patient with hypercholesterolaemia, particularly if lipid lowering treatment (either diet or drugs) is contemplated. The type of diet or drug to which a patient responds best depends on the relative amounts of circulating cholesterol and triglyceride. Moreover, patients with very high triglyceride concentrations (almost all of whom will have hypercholesterolaemia) should be identified and treated appropriately. They are at risk of pancreatitis, and neither the hypercholesterolaemia nor the hypertriglyceridaemia is likely to respond to conventional cholesterol lowering dietary or drug treatment.

A M Cruickshank

Department of Biochemistry, Southern General Hospital NHS Trust, Glasgow G51 4TF

  1. Garber AM, Avins AL. Triglyceride concentration and coronary heart disease. BMJ 1994;309:2-3. (2 July.) [Free Full Text]

Routine measurement is justified

EDITOR, - In their editorial on triglyceride concentrations and coronary . . . [Full text of this article]


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Relevant Article

Triglyceride concentration and coronary heart disease
A M Garber and A L Avins
BMJ 1994 309: 2-3. [Extract] [Full Text]

This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Kapadia, S. R., Nissen, S. E., Ziada, K. M., Rincon, G., Crowe, T. D., Boparai, N., Young, J. B., Tuzcu, E. M. (2001). Impact of lipid abnormalities in development and progression of transplant coronary disease: a serial intravascular ultrasound study. J Am Coll Cardiol 38: 206-213 [Abstract] [Full text]  
  • Garber, A. M, Avins, A. L (1995). Triglyceride concentration and coronary heart disease. BMJ 310: 259c-260 [Full text]  
  • Garber, A. M, Avins, A. L (1994). Triglyceride concentration and coronary heart disease. BMJ 309: 1440a-1441 [Full text]  
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