Abstract

The debate whether an elevated level of serum uric acid (SUA) is an independent marker of cardiovascular risk is still going on. We examined morbidity and mortality related to SUA and hyperuricemia in a well-characterized population with very long follow-up. Study included 4696 participants (aged 30–59 years at baseline) of the coronary heart disease (CHD) Study of the Finnish Mobile Clinic Health Examination Survey. Adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) of hyperuricemia (defined as ≥360 µmol/l and ≥420 µmol/l) and SUA quintiles for mortality and adverse cardiovascular outcomes are reported. During the mean follow up of 30.6 years there were 2723 deaths, 887 deaths for CHD of which 340 were classified as sudden cardiac deaths, 1642 hospitalizations due to CHD and 798 hospitalizations due to congestive heart failure. After adjusting to baseline risk factors and presence of cardiovascular diseases as well as the use of diuretics there were no significant differences in the risk of any of the outcomes when analyzed either according to quintiles of SUA or using a cut-off point SUA ≥360 µmol/l for hyperuricemia. Only a rare finding of hyperuricemia SUA ≥420 µmol/l among women (n = 17, 0.9%) was independently associated with significantly higher risk of mortality (adjusted HR: 2.59, 95% CI: 1.54–4.34) and a combination end-point of major adverse cardiac events (MACEs) (HR: 2.69; 95% CI: 1.56–4.66). SUA was not an independent indicator of morbidity and mortality, with the exception of particularly high levels of SUA among women.