Tag Archives: measurement

Why should lipoprotein(a) be measured? The cardiovascular risk conferred by serum lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)) in large noteworthy epidemiological studies1,2 over two decades ago was inconsistent and often underestimated owing to poor standardisation of the commercially available Lp(a) immunoassays. During the last decade, however, genome-wide association and Mendelian randomisation studies have identified Lp(a) as a new risk factor for calcific aortic stenosis and as a causal risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) across ethnicities.3,4 Elevated Lp(a) is associated with accelerated progression of low-attenuation plaque for

1. Check that the measurement is correct Ensure that they really are poorly controlled by resting the patient for 10 minutes, with the cuff in place to discourage them from standing, before taking at least two measurements, one to two minutes apart. Feel the radial pulse because in arrhythmias such as atrial fibrillation automatic sphygmomanometers are inaccurate and therefore traditional devices such as mercury sphygmomanometers must be used. People aged over 80 years and some diabetics may have postural hypotension. This is where the systolic blood pressure drops 20 mmHg on standing or they may have postural symptoms.2 Having made that diag