Importance of detecting hyperlipidemia in children and adolescents to manage cardiovascular risk: A cross-sectional study
Hacer Eroğlu1, Arif Murat Kaytaz2, Evin Ademoglu2, Sema Genc31Department of Biochemistry, Istanbul Bakırkoy Prof. Dr. Mazhar Osman Mental Health and Nerve Diseases Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey2Department of Medical Biochemistry, Istanbul University, Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey
3Department of Medical Biochemistry, Acıbadem Maslak Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey
INTRODUCTION: As childhood and adolescence are the periods when cardiovascular risk factors begin to emerge, this study aimed to investigate the serum lipid profiles of the pediatric population in age- and sex-specific partitions.
METHODS: The serum lipids were measured in 9613 pediatric samples from residual material in the Istanbul Public Health Laboratory with age groups stratified as 1-4 years, 5-9 years, 10-14 years, and 15-19 years.
RESULTS: The total-C and LDL-C were significantly high in girls aged 1-4 years, and total-C and LDL-C were significantly low in boys aged 15-19 years. Total-C levels of girls were also different at ages 1-4 and 15-19 years compared with boys. The girls also showed higher LDL-C levels at 1-4 and 15-19 years, non-HDL-C levels at 1-4 years, 5-9 years, and 15-19 years, and HDL-C at 15-19 years compared with the boys of the same age group. The prevalence of hypertriglyceridemia, hypercholesterolemia, and high LDL-C in the 15-19 age groups was significantly different between boys and girls.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: This study emphasizes the importance of determining lipid profiles during childhood and adolescence and taking preventive actions for cardiovascular diseases by implementing reliable age- and sex-specific cut-off values.
Manuscript Language: English