Lipid clinics are urgently required in the Iranian public health system

Abstract

Objectives: Lipid Clinics are specialized centers for clinical as-sessment and follow up of patients with dyslipidaemia in order to deliver an acceptable improvement in their lipid profiles. We as-sessed the changes in lipid profile of dyslipidemic patients attend-ing a Lipid Clinic over a 1 year period on lipid-lowering therapy. Methods: Dyslipidemic patients (n=238) were recruited from the Lipid Clinic at the Royal Surrey County Hospital, Guildford, UK. All patients were regularly seen at the clinic and the compli-ance of lipid-lowering drug consumption, prescribed by the con-sultant was assessed over a period of one year. Results: The mean age of the patients was 55.2 ± 0.86 years and the male/female ratio was 143/95. The lipid profiles of patients attending the Lipid Clinic over the period of one year of close monitoring changed significantly. Triglyceride, total cholesterol and low density lipoprotein cholesterol were reduced by 27.04%, 20.48% and 22.67%, respectively (P<0.001) and high density lipo-protein cholesterol rose by 8.96% (P<0.001); the 10-year calcu-lated coronary risk factor of all patients decreased significantly (39.29%, P<0.001). Conclusions: Our findings confirmed the effectiveness of a Lipid Clinic in the management of lipid profile and cardiovascular risk of dyslipidemic patients.

Keywords

• Lipid Clinics; Secondary prevention; Dyslipidemia