Dislipidemias

Abstract

Dyslipidemias are directly associated with coronary artery disease and its treatment reduces major complications of coronary and extracoronary atherosclerosis. Increased levels of triglycerides are related to coronary events, even in subjects with optimal cholesterol levels and, when severely increased, determine higher risk for pancreatitis. Current guidelines for the treatment of dyslipidemias and prevention of atherosclerosis are focused on the more extensive use of statins, not only for the treatment of hypercholesterolemia, but also for primary or secondary prevention of atherosclerosis, even in those patients with relatively normal LDLcholesterol levels. New hypolipidemic agents have shown outstanding capacity for achievement of appropriate lipid levels, even in severe genetic disease and are very promising for the decrease of cardiovascular disease in these populations.