Comparison of coronary heart disease risk factors in autopsied young adults from the PDAY Study with living young adults from the CARDIA study

Although there were statistically significant differences, the overall similarity of the risk factors in the two studies supports the validity of investigating associations of risk factors measured postmortem with anatomically determined arterial lesions in autopsied young adults dying from external causes. The greater variability in postmortem serum measurements attenuates but does not obscure associations.