Comparison of An App Based Low Density Lipoprotein  Cholesterol (LDL-C) Estimation with Direct Assay and  Friedewald Formula in Indian Population

Authors

Low Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol, Cardiovascular Disease, Friedewald Formula, Martin Hopkins Equation, ROC.

Introduction: Accurate measurements of Low Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol (LDL-C) are imperative in

classifying individuals with risk of cardiovascular Disease (CVD). Guidelines around the world advocate

aggressive LDL-C lowering therapies. A novel equation, Martin Hopkins Equation [LDL-C (MH)], has been

proposed to be an alternate to provide precise LDL-C estimates to initiate and/or adjust drug dosage.

Method: Lipid profile data of 739 adults were measured by enzymatic colorimetric methods. Calculated

LDL-C by Friedewald formula, LDL-C (FF) and LDL-C (MH) was computed from ldlcalculator.com/

smartphone application.

Results: The sensitivity and specificity of LDL-C (MH) was 92.3% and 87.8% respectively. On Receiver

Operating Characteristics Curve (ROC) analysis, Area under Curve (AUC) was 0.97 (p<0.001). Bland

Altman plots revealed a minimal positive bias of 1.2 for LDL-C (MH).

Conclusion: The findings are suggestive of better estimates of LDL-C (MH) when compared to LDL-C

(FF). A diagnostic laboratory could report LDL-C for absolutely FREE in the future. A new horizon in

LDL-C estimation!!!

B. Pallavi1 , Krishnamurthy U2

1 Senior Registrar, Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Central Laboratory, St. Martha’s Hospital, Bangalore, 2Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Ramaiah Medical College, Bangalore