Familial hypercholesterolemia in very young myocardial infarction

Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is one of the most common causes of premature myocardial infarction (MI). However, The patterns of FH remained unrecognized in clinical care, especially in very young patients (VYPs, <= 35 years) with MI. The present study enrolled a total of 1,093 VYPs (<= 35 years) presenting a first MI. Clinical diagnosis of FH was made using Dutch Lipid Clinic Network criteria. Coronary severity was assessed by Gensini score (GS). Patients were followed for a median of 40-months with cardiac death, stroke, MI, post-discharge revascularization or unstable angina as primary endpoints. The detected rates of definite/probable FH were 6.5%. The prevalence reached up to 10.3% in patients <= 25 years. The FH had similar levels of comorbidities but was younger, more likely to be very high risk (VHR) and had higher GS (p < 0.05) than unlikely FH. Notably, the FH on prior lipid-lowering medication presented a lower GS compared to those untreated. Differences in event rates were similar in FH as unlikely FH (11.8% vs. 8.1%, adjusted hazard ratio 1.35 [0.64-2.86], p = 0.434) but patients on treatment improved outcome (6.5% vs. 10.5%, adjusted hazard ratio 0.35[0.13-0.95], p = 0.039). The early identification and treatment might be critical to reduce cardiovascular risk in VYPs with MI.