Detecting Familial Hypercholesterolemia: An Observational Study Leveraging Mandatory Universal Pediatric Total Cholesterol Screening in Slovakia

Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is an autosomal-dominant inherited disorder that is often underdiagnosed and undertreated. FH is characterized by a lifelong exposure to high levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), which causes early and accelerated atherogenesis. Patients with genetically defined FH have a risk of coronary heart disease that is>10-fold than that of the general population, and a 3-fold increased risk of cardiovascular disease at the same LDL-C level.1 The relative cardiovascular risk patients with FH is highest between the ages of 25 and 40 years.
Source: Journal of Clinical Lipidology - Category: Lipidology Authors: Tags: Original Research Source Type: research