We included all consecutive admissions in a single cardiology department over a period of 10 months and 1-year follow-up was performed.
In total, 959 patients were included: 457 (47.7 % ) were diagnosed with non-ischemic chest pain, 355 (37 % ) with non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome, and 147 (15.3 % ) with ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome. Prevalence of high-density lipoproteins <40 mg/dL was 54.6 % , and was higher in patients with acute coronary syndrome (69.4 % vs 30.6 % ; P<.01). The prevalence of acute coronary syndrome increased with reductions in mean high-density lipoproteins. Age, active smoking, diabetes, fasting glucose >100 mg/dL, and high-density lipoproteins <40 mg/dL were independently associated with acute coronary syndrome, and low high-density lipoproteins was the main associated factor (odds ratio, 4.11; 95 % confidence interval, 2.87-5.96). Survival analysis determined that, compared with non-ischemic chest pain, the presence of acute coronary syndrome was associated with significantly greater risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality.
Low levels of high-density lipoproteins cholesterol (?0 mg/dL) were independently associated with a diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome in patients hospitalized for chest pain, with an inverse relationship between lower levels of high-density lipoproteins and prevalence of acute coronary syndrome.