Could an undiagnosed patient suffering from atherosclerosis reveal normal blood cholesterol levels?

Question

Could cholesterol plaques remain undetected?

Answer 1

Yes an undiagnosed patient having athersclerosis can show normal blood levels of cholesterol.

Formation of atherosclerotic plaques can start from a young age.

Symptoms due to obstruction may not appear until a fair amount of blocking has occured. This is due to compensatory mechanisms of the circulatory system.

Angiographic studies can show the nature of cholesterol deposits during investigations for cardiac or  of disease.

Answer 2

Routinely. Studies as far back as World War II showed atherosclerotic placques on autopsies of war dead, who were obviously young and healthy before falling victim to the trauma of warfare. Cholesterol was not measured in those studies, of course, but since then cholesterol has gotten a good deal of interest. There is no level at which you're safe from atherosclerosis, and the cut-offs for what is normal are somewhat arbitrary.