Relationship between lipids and angiographically defined coronary artery disease in Japanese patients.

The relationship between the severity and extent of coronary artery disease (CAD) and the lipid profiles was evaluated in 120 Japanese male patients, who underwent coronary angiography. Analysis of the lipid quartile distribution showed that the percentage of patients with significant CAD increased as the total cholesterol (TC) increased and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) decreased. In addition, as the number of vessels with marked coronary artery stenosis increased, TC and TC/HDL-C increased while HDL-C decreased. However, within this population, triglyceride level, high blood pressure, and smoking were not significantly associated with coronary angiographic findings.