Relations Between Familial Hypercholesterolemia and Early Ischemic Heart Disease: An Analysis of Medical Documentation Data

Heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia is associated with a high risk of early ischemic heart disease onset and cardiovascular death. There is almost no data about the prevalence of the disease in the Ukrainian population. The aim of the study was to assess the incidence of familial hypercholesterolemia among patients who were treated in “L.T. Malaya Therapy National Institute of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine” due to early ischemic heart disease. Medical records data of 600 patients treated in the Institute during 2015-2017 were analyzed. Early ischemic heart disease was diagnosed in 89 patients. The disease verification has been conducted either on the basis of coronarography data, or on the basis of previous myocardial infarction with Q wave. To identify patients with familial hypercholesterolemia, the Dutch lipid clinic network criteria were used. The presence of familial hypercholesterolemia was suspected in more than 14.8% of patients with early ischemic heart disease. Among these patients, 2 (2.2%) had definite diagnosis; 27 (30.3%) were likely to have diagnosis, 26 (29.7%) had possible diagnosis and in 34 (38,2%) patients it was unlikely to diagnose them with familial hypercholesterolemia. The term “familial hypercholesterolemia” was not mentioned in the hospital diagnosis. This paper demonstrates that despite frequent occurrence of familial hypercholesterolemia, doctors’ alertness towards this disease has been noted to be quite low