Are young women with Turner syndrome at greater risk of coronary artery disease?

Background: Turner syndrome is an X chromosome aberration that affects females. Women with Turner syndrome are exposed to a greater risk of coronary artery disease, arterial hypertension and type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Design: The objective of our study was to assess the prevalence of classic risk factors of coronary artery disease in young women with Turner syndrome in comparison to a representative group of Polish young women from the general population.

Methods: The study enrolled 176 women aged 25 years with Turner syndrome from the whole of Poland. The controls were 231 young women selected to be representative, who took part in the NATPOL PLUS study (website: http://www.natpol.pl).

Results: Women with Turner syndrome tended to be shorter and lighter than the general population (P < 0.0001), they were also found to present higher values of body mass index and waist-hip ratio (P < 0.0001). Significantly higher values of diastolic blood pressure (P < 0.0001) and levels of total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein fraction were found in the group of women with Turner syndrome, whereas the high-density lipoprotein fraction level was lower (P < 0.05). Similarly, glucose levels on an empty stomach were significantly higher among women with Turner syndrome (P < 0.0001).

Conclusion: Women with Turner syndrome constitute a group at higher cardiovascular risk. This group of women requires effective preventative medicine from the earliest age.