Screening for Familial Hypercholesterolemia in Children

Familial hypercholesterolemia is the most common treatable genetic disorder for which a simple, effective treatment is available, with few side effects. It leads to a significant increase in LDL levels, generally in excess of 1.9g/l, including in children. It is much higher than the values usually found in secondary or polygenic hypercholesterolemia. This condition multiplies the cardiovascular risk in adulthood by a factor of 13, and is responsible for 6,500 early cardiovascular events per year. In the absence of treatment, the state of the arteries of patients with familial hypercholesterolemia, at the age of 40, would be equivalent to that of 80-year-olds. Currently, the prevalence is estimated at 1 in 300 people in France. However, this prevalence is largely underestimated, as targeted screening is rarely carried out, and it is estimated that only 10% of sufferers are diagnosed in