Prevalence of Familial Hypercholesterolaemia (FH) in Italian Patients With Coronary Artery Disease

Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is a disease that causes exposure to elevated plasma levels of LDL cholesterol (LDL-C, low-density lipoprotein) and increasing the risk of premature coronary heart disease (coronary artery disease, CAD). The FH is a co-dominant genetic disease and can occur in heterozygous and homozygous form, with different severity. The prevalence in whites is estimated to be 1.500 for heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HeFH) and 1.1000000 for homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HoFH). This prevalence is probably an underestimate, as it is based on prevalence rates in in-patient and disease registries, and is influenced by the early mortality of patients with FH. The situation does not improve if we consider patients admitted for acute coronary event (myocardial infarction - AMI and / or unstable angina, - ACS). If we consider LDL cholesterol cumulative load in a person affected by FH, the best approach intervention to reduce cardiovascular mortality is an early diagnosis and treatment.

The primary aim of the study is to evaluate the prevalence of FH in patients with documented CAD event (AMI, ACS, CABG or PCI) followed by 100 cardiologic centers representative of the whole Italian territory. The results will also permit to increase the cardiologists awareness of FH. Secondary objective will be the validation of Dutch Lipid Clinic Network (DLCN) criteria (annex 1), in the Italian CAD population (12). The characterization of the patients, carried out during the study, will allow to identify the priorities for health inteventions aimed at improving the FH diagnosis in the general population through the a cascade screening in the relatives of the genetically characterized subjects.