THE ASSOCIATION OF SERUM LIPOPROTEIN(A) LEVELS WITH MYOCARDIAL-INFARCTION AND ICTUS CEREBRI IN THE ELDERLY

This study was aimed at revealing the relationship between the serum c oncentrations of lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)], the coronary atherosclerotic disease (CAD) and the cerebral vasculopathies (CVP) in elderly patient s. A group of 117 patients (66 women and 51 men, mean age 83 +/- 5.8 y ears) was investigated. Of them, 58 suffered from acute myocardial inf arct (AMI) and 59 from ictus cerebri (IC). The parameters were compare d with those obtained from a control-group of 88 old people without an y recent clinical history of cerebrovasculopathy or atherosclerotic co ronariopathy. In the patients with AMI, the average serum value of Lp( a) was 40.8 +/- 18.5 mg%, and in those suffering from IC, it was 46.7 +/- 13.2 mg%; the differences of these averages against the mean found in the control patients (23.2 +/- 11.5 mg%) were statistically signif icant (p < 0.01). One can conclude that an increased Lp(a) is of diagn ostic value for the presence of both IC and AMI, and represents a risk factor for cerebrovasculopathies, too.