Dyslipoproteinemia in patients with ischemic cerebro-vascular disease: a study of stroke before the age of 55.

Serum lipoproteins were determined 8-12 weeks after the onset of ischemic cerebro-vascular disease (ICD) in 61 patients, 38 males and 23 females, before the age of 55. The results were compared with those of a matched control material. The diagnosis was based on clinical findings, CSF spectrophotometry, computer tomography, and angiography. Hyperlipoproteinemia was no common finding in these young and middle-aged patients with ICD. The normal mean total serum cholesterol concentration was the result of a slight increase in VLDL cholesterol and a concomitant HDL cholesterol reduction. In men, the HDL cholesterol concentration was lower than expected for any VLDL-TG concentration. The mean value of the HDL cholesterol concentration in the patients was 18% lower than in the control group. On agarose electrophoresis the lipoprotein variants "late prebeta", "sinking prebeta" and "rapid beta" lipoproteins could be demonstrated in the same frequency as in controls. There was no significant correlation between the degree of atherosclerosis, estimated by angiography, and any serum lipoprotein fraction. Several recent studies have stressed the importance of a low HDL concentration as an independent risk factor for atherosclerosis. The decreased HDL cholesterol levels found in the present material require further attention to the possible beneficial role of HDL in ICD.