Hyperlipidemia in uremic patients in dialysis

: Serum concentrations of cholesterol, triglycerides, high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), apoproteins (apo) A and B were compared in 36 hemodialysis patients and in 20 normal controls. Hyperlipidemia was present in 22 patients (59.4%); 15 of them had simple hypertriglyceridemia and 7 had combined hyperlipidemia (i.e., hypertriglyceridemia and hypercholesterolemia). All hemodialysis patients, whether normo- or hyperlipidemic, had normal apo A and low HDL-C serum concentrations. Positive risk factors for atherosclerosis other than low HDL-C (high serum apo B concentration and low apo A/apo B ratio) were present in hyperlipidemic patients only, with no difference between those with simple hypertriglyceridemia and combined hyperlipidemia. These results suggest that the risk for atherosclerosis related to lipid abnormalities may be considered as substantial in hyperlipidemic hemodialysis patients, but not in normolipidemic ones, regardless of the cholesterolemic values.