Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol is Inversely Associated with All-Cause Mortality of Patients in the Coronary Care Unit

OBJECTIVE: The aims of this study were to investigate the relationship between low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels and all-cause mortality in coronary care unit (CCU) patients, adjusting for a wide range of potential confounding factors, to examine the potential of LDL-C in predicting the prognostic value of CCU patients. METHODS: Clinical data were extracted from Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care-III database (MIMIC-III database version v.1.4). Baseline data were collected within 24 hours after the patient was first admitted to the hospital. The primary endpoint of our study is 30-day all-cause mortality. The secondary endpoints are 90-day and one-year all-cause mortality and infections. Cox proportional hazard regression and propensity score-matched (PSM) analysis were used to analyze the association between LDL-C levels and prognostic value of CCU patients. RESULTS: We included a total of 1476 patients with an average age of 66.7 ± 14.1 years (66% male). For 30-day all-cause mortality, the hazard ratio (95% confidence interval) of high LDL-C level group (≥ 55 mg/dl) was 0.42 (0.29, 0.62), which was compared with low LDL-C level group (< 55 mg/dl) in unadjusted model. After adjusting for age, gender and race, the association still existed (P < 0.05), and the HR (95% CI) was 0.49 (0.33, 0.72). Further adjustment of possible covariates showed similar correlation (P < 0.05), and HR (95% CI) was 0.65 (0.43, 0.97). Similar correlations were observed for 90-day and one-year all-cause mortality. The relationship between all-cause mortality and LDL-C levels in CCU patients was further verified by propensity score-matched (PSM) analysis. In addition, the higher the LDL-C level, the lower the risk of infection, odds ratio (OR) values in the three models were less than 1 (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that high LDL-C level is associated with a reduced risk of 30-day, 90-day, and one-year mortality of patients in the CCU. And this result is still stable in the PSM model. The results need to be verified in prospective trials.