Hyperlipemia in Progeny of Parents

Abstract

We studied 223 children from 70 families where one parent had a myocardial infarction before age 50 to assess the frequency of hyperlipemia in children prone to atherosclerosis on the basis of family history. Familial hyperlipoproteinemia was documented in 60 of 70 (85%) of the myocardial infarction kindreds with predominant phenotypes for II-A, II-B, and IV hyperlipoproteinemia in 14, 18, and 28 kindreds, respectively. Familial hyperlipoproteinemia was documented in 69 of 223 (31%) children from kindreds with myocardial infarction, with phenotypes II-A, II-B, and IV hyperlipoproteinemia in 34, 10, and 25 children, respectively. The common occurrence of familial hyperlipoproteinemia in progeny of parents with myocardial infarction before age 50 enables early recognition and treatment of increased plasma cholesterol and triglyceride, and emphasizes the importance of questions about premature myocardial infarction in the pediatric family history.