OBJECTIVES: Hypertensive patients with cardiovascular (CV) disease or diabetes are at a particularly high CV risk. LDL-cholesterol (cLDL) levels are an important CV risk factor and total cholesterol/cHDL (TC/HDL) ratio is also related to cardiovascular risk. Although HDL-cholesterol (cHDL) is a protective factor, available therapeutic strategies are not effective enough. The objetive of this study is to compare cLDL, cHDL and TC/HDL between two groups: patients with previous CV disease/diabetes and those without it in a hypertensive population from a programme for CV risk control. METHODS: A total of 5094 subjects from primary care centres in Spain were retrospectively studied. Levels of cLDL, cHDL and TC/HDL were compared for the above mentioned groups by Student t test for independent samples. RESULTS: There were 41.4% men. Mean age 66.3 years. Average TC levels were: 214.4 mg/dL; cLDL: 141.9 mg/dL; cHDL: 45.5 mg/dL and TC/HDL: 4.98. Levels of cLDL were significantly lower for those with CV disease/diabetes: 148.6 mg/dL (SD 32.8) vs. 132.3 mg/dL (SD 35); p<0.0001. Similarly, Levels of cHDL were significantly lower for those with CV disease/diabetes: 47.1 mg/dL (SD 12,5) vs. 43.1 mg/dL (SD 11.4): p<0.0001. There were no significant differences of CT/HDL ratio between groups. CONCLUSIONS: In a population of treated hypertensives, cLDL levels are lower for those with previous CV disease/diabetes, which is appropriate taking into account their higher cardiovascular risk. On the contrary cHDL levels are lower in the group at highest risk. There is a wide room for improvement of cardiovascular risk in hypertensive patients with previous CV disease or diabetes, by increasing HDL.