Evaluation of Lipid Profile and Statin Therapy in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation: Real-Life Data from a Tertiary Hospital

Abstract

Objectives: Dyslipidemia is a modifiable risk factor of atrial fibrillation (AF). However, the majority of patients either do not receive low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) lowering treatment or do not meet their LDL-C and non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C) goal. We aimed to search whether patients with AF are being treated for dyslipidemia and/or are at target LDL-C and non-HDL-C levels if treated. Methods: This cross-sectional analysis includes 725 AF patients and was performed between 20 May 2023 and 25 November 2023, in cardiology outpatient clinics of a tertiary hospital. The demographic and clinical features of the patients were recorded. Systemic coronary risk estimation-2 (SCORE2) and old person version algorithms were used for cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk estimation. Primary prevention (PP) group involved patients with low-to-moderate, high and very high CVD risk without established atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) and secondary prevention (SP) group was consisted of patients with established ASCVD. Results: The mean age of the participants was 71.98± 9.01 and 54.5% (n=368) of patients were females. 207 (30.7%) of patients were paroxysmal AF, and 468 (69.3%) were permanent AF. Prevalence of dyslipidemia and hypertriglyceridemia were 364 (53.9%) and 248 (36.7%) respectively. 9 (1.3%) and 152 (22.5%) of patients were on fibrate and statin treatment respectively. Mean LDL-C and non-HDL-C were 107.81±35.97 and 135.42±41.19 and their target attainment rates were 62 (9.2%) and 107 (15.9%), respectively. Conclusion: Control of dyslipidemia in patients with atrial fibrillation was severely poor and the most common cause was physician negligence.