Household cardiovascular screening in adolescents from high-risk families.

BACKGROUND: Some cardiovascular risk factors identified in adults are already present in many children. OBJECTIVE: To identify adolescents that are at risk for developing cardiovascular disease based on the presence of risk factors in their parents and their own lipid profiles, fasting plasma glucose, and blood pressure. METHODS: 182 families were selected. The adolescents were divided into two groups: group I consisted of adolescents from high-risk families and group II consisted of adolescents from healthy families. RESULTS: For total cholesterol (TC), group I presented higher values when compared to group II (153.2 ± 26.5 mg/dL and 138.3 ± 22.0 mg/dL, respectively; p = 0.001). For low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), group I had higher values when compared to group II (80.2 ± 24.8 mg/dL and 62.6 ± 12.3 mg/dL, respectively; p = 0.001). For high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), group I had lower values when compared to group II (53.8 ± 12.3 mg/dL and 63.9 ± 13.4 mg/dL, respectively; p = 0.001). For the values of triglycerides (TG), group I presented higher values when compared to group II (86.98 ± 42.84 mg/dL and 72.50 ± 33.24 mg/dL, respectively; p = 0.014). And for fasting plasma glucose, group I had higher values when compared to group II (81.8 ± 13.2 mg/dL and 77.0 ± 9.7 mg/dL, respectively; p = 0.039). Systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and high-sensitivity C - reactive protein did not differ between groups. CONCLUSIONS: Adolescents from high-risk families had higher basal levels of TC, LDL-C, TG, and fasting plasma glucose and lower basal levels of HDL-C. Whether these findings will influence the development of cardiovascular risk factors or diseases in these subjects should be investigated in future studies.