Coronary heart disease in familiar hypercholesterolemia

Autopsy findings of a 36-year-old male with familiar hypercholesterolemia were reported and discussed. Hyperlipoproteinemia found in this case might belong to the type IIa in the classification of hyperlipoproteinemia while there was no skin lesion such as xanthoma and hypertension. Remarkable strictures due to atherosclerotic plaques in the lumens of the right and left coronary arteries and wide-spread myocardial infarction in the left ventricle were found. In the aorta just above the aortic valve there were atherosclerotic plaques in which foam cells could be seen. From the histological findings of the aortic valve the possibility that the thickening of the valve might have been induced by a similar mechanism as that of aorta and coronary arteries was suggested.