Lp(a) Unit Converter
Enter your Lp(a) result in whichever unit your laboratory used. US labs often report mg/dL, European and newer assays usually report nmol/L, which is why the same person can see two very different-looking numbers across two reports.
Educational tool, not a diagnosis. The practical advice matters more than the arithmetic here: stay on one unit and one assay when tracking Lp(a) over time, because a change in reported value between labs is more likely to be a units or method artifact than a real biological change. Lp(a) is also largely genetically determined and stable through life, so it is usually measured once rather than monitored — a rising result is more often a lab difference than a real trend. Thresholds vary between guidelines; interpret with the range printed on your own report and with your physician.
Why there is no exact conversion
This is the part every other converter skips. Milligrams per deciliter measures the total mass of Lp(a) in your blood. Nanomoles per litre counts how many Lp(a) particles are there. Converting between them requires knowing the mass of one particle — and that is not a constant, because the apo(a) protein comes in different sizes from person to person, determined genetically.
So a conversion factor is a population average applied to an individual. It gets you in the right neighbourhood, which is genuinely useful when you are staring at a number in an unfamiliar unit, but it is not a translation. Presenting one decimal place of false precision would be worse than showing the range honestly.
What actually matters about Lp(a)
Lp(a) is an independent, largely inherited cardiovascular risk factor — the fuller picture is in what a high Lp(a) means. Because you cannot change it much through lifestyle, an elevated result is best read as a reason to be more deliberate about the risks you can change: ApoB, blood pressure, and the rest of the modifiable lipid picture. It is also worth knowing that an elevated Lp(a) is a reason for first-degree relatives to be tested.