Paediatric familial hypercholesterolaemia screening in Europe: public policy background and recommendations
- PMID: 36059237
- DOI: 10.1093/eurjpc/zwac200
Paediatric familial hypercholesterolaemia screening in Europe: public policy background and recommendations
Abstract
Familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) is under-recognized and under-treated in Europe leading to significantly higher risk for premature heart disease in those affected. As treatment beginning early in life is highly effective in preventing heart disease and cost-effective in these patients, screening for FH is crucial. It has therefore now been recognized by the European Commission Public Health Best Practice Portal as an effective strategy. Model programmes exist in Europe to identify young individuals with FH, which are based on cascade screening of first-degree relatives of affected individuals, universal screening for high cholesterol, opportunistic screening of high-risk individuals, or a combination of the above approaches. Recommendations presented herein to improve identification of FH emphasize that every country should have an FH screening programme. These programmes should be adapted from existing strategies to best fit the individual country's healthcare system, governments should provide financial support for these programmes and related care, and further research to optimize care and implementations should be conducted.
Keywords: Cholesterol; Familial hypercholesterolaemia; LDL cholesterol; Myocardial infarction; Preventive cardiology.
© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology.
Conflict of interest statement
Conflict of interest: S.S.G. is a consultant at Esperion Therapeutics. A.W. reports research support for pharmaceutical trials of lipid-modifying agents from Amgen, Regeneron, Novartis, and Silence Therapeutics. T.F. was supported by the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic [grant NU20-02-00261], by the project National Institute for Research of Metabolic and Cardiovascular Diseases (Programme EXCELES, ID Project No. LX22NPO5104) - Funded by the European Union – Next Generation EU, and received honoraria from Sanofi, Amgen, and Novartis, outside the submitted work. M.D. is a Chief Executive of FH Europe. N.B. is a senior advisor with FH Europe. K.K.R. reports grants and personal fees from Amgen, Sanofi/Regeneron, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Medicines Company, Kowa, Novartis, Lilly, Algorithm, Boehringer Ingelheim, MSD, Abbvie, Silence Therapeutics, Bayer, Daiichi Sankyo, Esperion, Abbott, New Amsterdam, Resverlogix, outside the submitted work. R.D.S. has received honoraria related to consulting, research, and/or speaker activities from: Abbott, Amgen, Aché, Astra Zeneca, Esperion, EMS, GETZ Pharma, Kowa, Libbs, Merck, MSD, Novo-Nordisk, Novartis, PTC Therapeutics, Pfizer, Roche, and Sanofi. L.T. has received honoraria from Abbott, Actelion, Amgen, Bayer, Daiichi Sankyo, MSD, Mylan, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Sanofi, Servier, Pfizer, and Recorda. K.I.D. reports grants from Pfizer, Amgen, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Sanofi-Aventis, Daichii Sankyo, and Regeneron, and personal fees from Bayer, outside the submitted work. N.P. reports grants from AMGEN, SHIRE, ALEXION, Nutricia, NHC, Biocodex, and NHS. U.G., J.S., M.H., I.G.-I., F.J.P., and M.G. have no conflicts of interest.
Comment in
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A European screening programme for familial hypercholesterolaemia: a call to action.Eur J Prev Cardiol. 2024 Aug 9;31(10):1199-1202. doi: 10.1093/eurjpc/zwad018. Eur J Prev Cardiol. 2024. PMID: 36718096 No abstract available.