Study of lipoprotein(a) and its impact on atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease: Design and rationale of the Mass General Brigham Lp(a) Registry

Lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] is independently associated with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and calcific aortic valve stenosis. Elevated Lp(a) affects approximately one in five individuals and meaningfully contributes to the residual cardiovascular risk in individuals with otherwise well‐controlled risk factors. With targeted therapies in the therapeutic pipeline, there is a need to further characterize the clinical phenotypes and outcomes of individuals with elevated levels of this unique biomarker. The Mass General Brigham Lp(a) Registry will be built from the longitudinal electronic health record of two large academic medical centers in Boston, Massachusetts, to develop a detailed cohort of patients who have had their Lp(a) measured. In combination with structured data sources, clinical documentation will be analyzed using natural language processing techniques to accurately characterize baseline characteristics. Important outcome measures including all‐cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality, and cardiovascular events will be available for analysis. Approximately 30 000 patients who have had their Lp(a) tested within the Mass General Brigham system from January 2000 to July 2019 will be included in the registry. This large Lp(a) cohort will provide meaningful observational data regarding the differential risk associated with Lp(a) values and cardiovascular disease. With a new frontier of targeted Lp(a) therapies on the horizon, the Mass General Brigham Lp(a) Registry will help provide a deeper understanding of Lp(a)'s role in long term cardiovascular outcomes.