Abstract

The aim of the study was to evaluate the prevalence, trends and prognostic value of the levels of the risk factors of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in the offspring of patients with premature myocardial infarction. A total of 129 children and adolescents aged 9–21 years, from high risk families were examined repeatedly after a 4–5-year follow-up period from the first survey. The examination included a questionnaire interview, measurements of the body dimensions, blood pressure, blood lipids and fibrinogen levels. The prevalence of dyslipidaemia (DLP) persisting at the time of both surveys, was 30.5%. The most stable DLP forms were elevated HDL-C and LDL-C. New cases of DLP appeared in 37.5% of the subjects with normal lipid levels at the first survey. Despite their awareness  of family history 16.3% of the subjects were smokers and 58.1% were physically inactive. The correlation between the values of the CVD risk factors at the time of the two surveys was the highest for body mass index (r = 0.69), total cholesterol (r = 0.53) and systolic blood pressure (r = 0.53).
After the follow-up period the most stable CVD risk factors in the offspring of patients with premature myocardial infarction were body mass index, total cholesterol and systolic blood pressure. This finding presupposes identifying of individuals at high risk for premature heart disease in early life as well as monitoring of the CVD risk factors.