Apolipoproteins and lipids in coronary artery disease. Analysis of diagnostic accuracy using receiver operating characteristic plots and areas.

Abstract

Identification of clinically important coronary artery disease is a current goal in patient treatment. Serum lipid and apolipoprotein concentrations are commonly used to identify individuals who may have significant disease. With data published earlier from 304 men classified by coronary angiography, this study used receiver operating characteristic plots and analysis to examine the ability of 10 lipid or lipoprotein measures to discriminate between subjects with and without coronary artery disease. The analysis illustrated the simple elegance of receiver operating characteristic plots and demonstrated that all 10 measures are, at best, only moderately accurate.