Angiographically silent atherosclerosis detected by intravascular ultrasound in patients with familial hypercholesterolemi and familial combined hyperlipidemia: Correlation with high density lipoproteins

Objectives. This study sought to evaluate the extent of atherosclerosis in coronary and iliac arteries in patients with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemi or familial combined hyperlipidemia, using intravascular ultraound imaging. Background. Intravascular ultrasound imaging provides cross-sectional tomographic views of the vessel wall and allows quantitative assessment of atherosclerosis. Methods. Forty-eight nonsmoking, asymptomatic patients with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemi or familial combined hyperlipidemi underwent intravascular ultrasound imaging of the left anterior descending coronary, left main coronary and common iliac arteries. Angiography showed only minimal or no narrowing in these vessels. Intravascular ultrasound images obtained during catheter pullback underwent morphometric analysis. Plaque burden was expressed as the mean and maximal intimal index (ratio of plaque are and are within the internal elastic lamina) and as the percent of vessel surface covered by plaque. Results. Intravascular ultrasound detected plaque more frequently than angiography in the left anterior descending (80% vs. 29%, respectively), left main (44% vs. 16%) and iliac arteries (33% vs. 27%). Plaque burden was higher in the left anterior descending (mean intimal index [±SD] 0.25 ± 0.16) than in the left main (0.11 ± 0.16, p < 0.001) and iliac arteries (0.02 ± 0.04, p < 0.001). Angiography detected lumen narrowing only in coronary arteries with maximal intimal index succeeds or equal to0.42 (left anterior descending artery) and succeeds or equal to0.43 (left main artery). The are within the internal elastic lamin increased with plaque are in the left anterior descending (r = 0.82, p < 0.001) and left main arteries (r = 0.53, p < 0.001). By stepwise multiple regression analysis, the strongest predictor for plaque burden in the left anterior descending artery was the level of high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and total/HDL cholesterol ratio for the left main artery. Conclusions. In patients with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemi and familial combined hyperlipidemia, extensive coronary plaque is present despite minimal or no angiographic changes. Compensatory vessel enlargement and diffuse involvement with eccentric plaque may account for the lack of angiographic changes. Levels of HDL cholesterol and total/HDL cholesterol ratio are far more powerful predictors of coronary plaque burden than are low density lipoprotein cholesterol levels in these patients with early, asymptomatic disease.