Coronary artery disease in a child with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia: Regression after liver transplantation

Introduction: Heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (heFH) is characterized by high levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and increased risk for premature coronary artery disease (CAD) and death. Reduction of CAD and mortality by statins has not been properly quantified in heFH. The aim of the current study is to determine the effect of statins on CAD and mortality in heFH. Methods: All adult heFH patients identified by the Dutch FH screening program between 1994 and 2014 and registered in the PHARMO Database Network were eligible. Of these patients we obtained hospital, pharmacy (in- and outpatient), and mortality records in the period between 1995 and 2015. The effect of statins (time-varying) on CAD and all-cause mortality was determined using a Cox proportional hazard model, while correcting for the use of other lipid-lowering therapy, thrombocyte aggregation inhibitors, antihypertensive and antidiabetic medication (all time-varying). Furthermore, we used inverse probability for treatment weighting (IPTW) to account for differences between statin-treated and untreated patients regarding history of CAD before follow-up, age at start of follow-up and age of screening, as well as body mass index, LDL-C and triglycerides. Results: Of the 25,479 identified heFH patients, 11,021 gave informed consent to obtain their medical records, of whom 2,447 could be retrieved. We excluded 766 patients younger than 18. The remaining 1,681 heFH patients comprised our study population and these had very similar characteristics as compared to the 23,798 excluded FH patients, e.g. mean (SD) LDL-C levels were 214 (74) vs. 203 (77) mg/dL. Among 1,151 statin users, there were 133 CAD events and 15 deaths during 10,115 statin treated person-years, compared to 17 CAD events and 9 deaths during 4,965 person-years in 530 never statin users (combined rate: 14.6 vs. 5.2, respectively, p<0.001). After applying IPTW to account for indication bias and correcting for use of other medications, the hazard ratio of statin use for CAD and all-cause mortality was 0.61 (0.40 - 0.93). Conclusions: In heFH patients, statins lower the risk for CAD and mortality by 39%.

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Abstract P431: ASSOCIATION OF LIPOPROTEIN(A) WITH CARDIOVASCULAR EVENTS IN YOUNG NON-FAMILIAL HYPERCHOLESTEROLEMIA

Circulation ◽

10.1161/circ.141.suppl_1.p431 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 141 (Suppl_1) ◽

Author(s):

Pao-Hsien Chu

Keyword(s):

Cardiovascular Disease ◽

Coronary Artery Disease ◽

Coronary Artery ◽

Fatty Liver ◽

Familial Hypercholesterolemia ◽

Cardiovascular Events ◽

Healthy Population ◽

Lipoprotein A ◽

A Value ◽

Artery Disease

Background and aims: Elevated lipoprotein(a) is an independent risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease especially in familial hypercholesterolemia. The association of elevated lipoprotein(a) within non-familial hypercholesterolemia or healthy population however, is not known. Therefore, we investigated the associations between elevated lipoprotein(a) and the risk of cardiovascular disease in a non-familial hypercholesterolemia clinically healthy young age cohort. Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, we reviewed medical records of 3,427 participants with lipoprotein(a) levels from a tertiary healthcare center in Taiwan. We further classified lipoprotein(a) level into four groups and analyzed cardiovascular events. Results: Our study population had a mean age 46 years old that were 78% male. Mean total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein level were 195 mg/dL and 118 mg/dL respectively. Overall, 12.9% of the participants had an elevated lipoprotein(a) level (>30 mg/dL), and 2.7% had a very high level (>70 mg/dL). Thirty-three events including 6 participants with stroke and 27 with coronary artery disease were identified. A lipoprotein(a) level >70 mg/dL was associated with a higher risk of coronary artery disease events in Kaplan-Meier analysis. Aging was associated with a higher lipoprotein(a) value in the male participants but not in the female participants. However, the severity of fatty liver was not positively associated with lipoprotein(a) value. Conclusions: Elevated lipoprotein(a) was associated with coronary events but not the severity of fatty liver disease in non-familial hypercholesterolemia clinically healthy population. Aging may be associated with a higher lipoprotein(a) level in males but not females.

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