Impact of nonfasting triglycerides/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio on secondary prevention in patients treated with statins.

Background: Some studies have demonstrated that low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) lowering therapy is one of the most important strategies to prevent coronary artery disease. Also, serum triglycerides (TG) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) are recognized as independent risk factors of cardiovascular diseases. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the nonfasting TG/HDL-C ratio could affect the incidence of cardiovascular events after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) even in patients treated with statins.

Methods And Results: One thousand one hundred seventy consecutive patients were enrolled, all of whom underwent successful PCI for acute coronary syndrome or stable angina and continued statin treatments after PCI. They were equally divided into three groups on the basis of a nonfasting TG/HDL-C ratio 3 months after PCI. Among these groups, the incidence of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) was measured during a maximum of 5 years after PCI. MACE was defined as cardiac death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, revascularization due to new stenosis or restenosis. Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated that patients with higher TG/HDL-C ratio had a significantly higher incidence of MACE than other groups (p<0.001). In addition, Cox proportional hazards regression analysis indicated that the nonfasting TG/HDL-C ratio was significantly correlated with the incidence of MACE.

Conclusion: The nonfasting TG/HDL-C ratio was a valuable predictor of cardiovascular events after PCI in patients treated with statins.