Influence of use of the direct LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) assay on diagnosis and treatment for patients with hyperlipidemia--analysis using the hospital information system]

Many hospitals have recently begun to use the direct LDL-C assay which can provide an accurate value of LDL-C concentration in serum with hyper-triglyceridemia. This may have altered diagnosis and treatment of patients with hyperlipidemia. To evaluate the influence of the use of the direct LDL-C assay, we analyzed medical data from the hospital information system. The total number of the direct LDL-C assays amounted to around 1,000 per month, while that of beta-lipoprotein fell to around 50 per month. The monthly number of patients who were treated with statin drugs did not increase: from 37.4+/-2.2 (mean+/-SD) to 37.5+/-1.3 per 1,000 outpatients (p=0.932). Also the monthly number of patients who were prescribed statin drugs for the first time remained at a similar level: from 1.6+/-0.5 to 1.3+/-0.2 per 1,000 outpatients (p=0.063). These results suggest that the determination of the LDL-C value has not significantly changed the diagnosis and treatment of patients with hyperlipidemia.