Comparison of Patients With Familial Chylomicronemia Syndrome and Multifactorial Chylomicronemia Syndrome

Patients with rare familial chylomicronemia syndrome (FCS) and relatively common multifactorial chylomicronemia syndrome (MCS) both express severe hypertriglyceridemia, defined as plasma triglyceride concentration ≥10 mmol/L (≥885 mg/dL). Clinically there can be confusion between the 2 conditions.

To compare clinical and biochemical phenotypes in patients with genotypically characterized FCS and MCS.

We performed targeted sequencing of DNA from 193 patients with severe hypertriglyceridemia, classified them as having either FCS or MCS, and compared clinical and biochemical characteristics.

Patients with FCS were significantly younger than patients with MCS (31.4 ± 16.7 vs 51.0 ± 11.3 years; P = .003), with earlier age at symptom onset (15.0 ± 15.8 vs 37.8 ± 8.8 years; P = .00066), lower body mass index (23.3 ± 3.1 vs 30.7 ± 5.0 kg/m2; P = .000016), and higher prevalence of pancreatitis events (81.8% vs 35.2%; P = .003). Furthermore, patients with FCS had a higher ratio of triglyceride to total cholesterol (ie, 4.18 ± 0.92 vs 1.08 ± 0.51; P < .0001) and lower plasma apolipoprotein B (ie, 0.56 ± 0.15 vs 1.02 ± 0.43 g/L; P < .0001) than patients with MCS. Patients with MCS with heterozygous pathogenic variants had a relatively more severe clinical presentation than other MCS genetic subgroups.

Patients with FCS have notable phenotypic differences from patients with MCS, although there is overlap. While genetic analysis of patients with persistent severe hypertriglyceridemia can definitively diagnose FCS, 8.8% of patients with MCS with sustained refractory hypertriglyceridemia behave functionally as if they have FCS, which should influence their eligibility for novel therapies for severe hypertriglyceridemia.