Clinical value of bilirubin levels in elderly coronary heart disease patients

Objective To study the clinical value of bilirubin levels in elderly coronary heart disease（CHD） patients. Methods Six hundred and forty-four elderly patients admitted to our hospital were divided into CHD group（n=474） and non-CHD group（n=170）.Their basic data were recorded and their serum bilirubin,lipid,hepatic enzyme levels were measured.The patients underwent chocardiography. Results The total bilirubin（TB） and indirect bilirubin（IB） levels were significantly lower in CHD group than in non-CHD group（8.748±3.301 vs 9.753±3.682,5.711±2.692 vs 6.655±2.838,P＜0.01）,and negatively correlated with CHD（rs=-0.129,rs=-0.159,P＜0.01） and its severity（rs=-0.116,rs=-0.132,P＜0.01）,BNP level（rs=-0.161,rs=-0.191,P≤0.01）,interventricular septal thickness（rs=-0.103,rs=-0.124,P ≤0.01）,and posterior left ventricular thickness（rs=-0.093,rs=-0.118,P＜0.01）,while positively correlated with the left ventricular shortening fraction（rs=0.104,rs=0.122,P＜0.01）.However,no significant difference was found in direct bilirubin（DB） level between the two groups.Logistic regression analysis showed that the IB was an independent protective factor for CHD（OR: 0.929,95%CI: 0.865-0.998,P＜0.05）. Conclusion The bilirubin level is low in elderly CHD patients and the slightly elevated serum bilirubin level within the normal range is an independent protective factor for CHD and cardiac function in CHD patients.