Evaluation of Serum Lipid Levels in Patients with Chronic Spinal Cord Injury

Objectives: The present study is intended to evaluate serum lipid levels in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) and to investigate the factors affecting lipid levels. Methods: A total of 96 patients with SCI who were followed up in our Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinic between 2018 and 2023 were included in this retrospective study. The American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale, Functional Ambulation Categories (FAC), SCI Spasticity Evaluation Tool and Spinal Cord Independence Measure, version III (SCIM III) assessments of the included patients were obtained from patient files and recorded. Serum total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c), triglyceride (TG) levels, and TC/HDL-c ratios were evaluated. Results: Among the patients included, 41.7% had TC over 200 mg/dL, 32.3% had LDL-c over 130 mg/dL, 47.9% had HDL-c below 40 mg/dL, and 41.7% had a TC level above 150 mg/dL. In 29.2% of patients, the TC/HDL ratio was 4.5 or higher. 74 patients (77.1%) had an abnormality in at least one lipid profile. Male patients with SCI had lower HDL-c levels and higher TG levels and TC/HDL-c ratios than female SCI patients (p<0.05). There was a statistically significant correlation between TC and LDL-c and Body mass index (BMI) and FAC (p<0.05). HDL-c was significantly correlated with the duration of SCI, FAC, and SCIM III total score (p<0.05). There was a significant correlation be-tween TG levels and BMI only (p<0.05). There was a statistically significant positive correlation between TC/HDL-c ratio and BMI and a negative correlation between the duration of SCI and SCIM III total score (p<0.05). Conclusion: Dyslipidemia was present in the majority of patients with SCI. Dyslipidemia rates were higher in the group of male patients. There was a correlation between lipid levels and BMI, SCI duration, independence levels, and ambulation degrees.