Efficacy and safety of lipoprotein apheresis in children with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia: A systematic review

Background: Homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HoFH) is a rare genetic disorder that may cause life-threatening cardiovascular disease (CVD) at childhood. Marginal effectiveness of statins in reducing low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) is the reason why extracorporeal removal of LDL-C by lipoprotein apheresis (LA) is recommended at the earliest possible age. Objective: It is, however, unknown to what extent LA effectively reduces the burden of CVD in children with HoFH. We therefore systemically reviewed the literature on the efficacy and safety of LA in children with HoFH. Methods: We conducted a systematic literature search using Embase Classic and Embase on studies that evaluated LA in patients with HoFH aged