Early diagnosis and treatments in childhood are associated with better prognosis in patients with familial hypercholesterolemia
Hayato Tada, Nobuko Kojima, Kan Yamagami, Akihiro Nomura, Atsushi Nohara, Soichiro Usui, Kenji Sakata, Masayuki Takamura, Masa‐aki Kawashiri
Abstract
Objective: The early diagnosis and treatment initiation for children with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) has been recommended in guidelines. However, there is limited data on the impact of early treatments on the prognosis of children with FH. To investigate if the early initiation of lipid-lowering therapies among Japanese pediatric patients with FH reduced the occurrence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) events in them. Methods: = 1050, male/female = 490/560), including 106 children below 20 years. We compared a variety of phenotypes, including genetic backgrounds, other complications, LDL cholesterol, medical therapies, and their prognoses between the patients' diagnoses before the age of 20 years (children, mean age = 15 years) and after that age (adults, mean age = 52 years). Overall, 290 patients (27.6%) had a history of prior CVD events. Results: < 0.001). Conclusion: The likelihood of CVD events in those with FH diagnosed and treated in childhood is low.