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Expression of common familial dyslipidemias in early childhood

J Lapinleimu1, H Lapinleimu, I O Nuotio

  • 1Department of Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland. Jouni.Lapinleimu@tyks.fi

Atherosclerosis
|November 26, 2008
PubMed

Insights

Early identification of familial dyslipidemia in children is key to preventing heart disease. Repeatedly high non-HDL cholesterol in children of parents with high cholesterol strongly predicts their own dyslipidemia.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiovascular Health
  • Pediatric Lipidology
  • Preventive Cardiology

Background:

  • Familial dyslipidemias can lead to premature atherosclerotic disease.
  • Early detection in childhood is crucial for intervention.
  • Parental dyslipidemia is a significant risk factor for children.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the diagnostic value of early childhood lipid samples in identifying familial dyslipidemias.
  • To assess the predictive power of deviant lipid levels in children based on parental dyslipidemia status.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of lipid data from 353 children and their parents over the first 7 years of life.
  • Defined hypo-high-density-lipoprotein-cholesterol (hypo-HDL-C) and hyper-non-high-density-lipoprotein-cholesterol (hyper-non-HDL-C) based on parental and child lipid levels.
  • Estimated diagnostic values using longitudinal means, quintiles, standard deviation models, and bootstrap confidence intervals.

Main Results:

  • 16.7% of all children had hyper-non-HDL-C; 31.8% of children with hyper-non-HDL-C parents had this condition (p=0.008).
  • A single early non-HDL-C sample in the highest quintile predicted 83% of hyper-non-HDL-C children from affected parents.
  • A mean of three samples improved prediction to 91% for children with hyper-non-HDL-C parents.

Conclusions:

  • Repeatedly elevated non-HDL cholesterol in children of hypercholesterolemic parents is a strong predictor of true dyslipidemia.
  • Early and repeated lipid profiling in at-risk children can aid in timely diagnosis and prevention of atherosclerotic disease.

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