Primary prevention of coronary artery disease through a family-oriented cardiac risk factor clinic

Primary prevention of coronary artery disease in children and young adults is important and can be instituted through a family-oriented cardiac risk factor clinic. Such a clinic was initiated at the Medical College of Georgia in March 1988. Children whose total cholesterol level (TC) exceeded 200 mg/dL when screened by their primary care physician were referred with their siblings and parents for fasting lipid profile and further evaluation. Data are available for the initial 21 families, including 30 children and 36 adults. The mean TC level was 258 mg/dL for index cases, 195 mg/dL for siblings, and 233 mg/dL for parents. Follow-up data obtained after therapy at a mean of 6 months are available for 12 families, including 14 children and 14 adults. The mean change in TC was from 265 to 246 mg/dL; 82% of the patients had a decrease in TC. Only one index case was documented as having neither a sibling nor a parent with an elevated cholesterol level. Family-oriented cardiac risk factor clinics are important for the identification and treatment of hypercholesterolemia in asymptomatic young people when primary prevention is possible.