Hypercholesterolemia in Childhood

The American Heart Association (AHA), endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), identified 8 high-risk pediatric diagnosis and developed practical recommendations for the management of cardiovascular risk.. The selected diseases comprise familial hypercholesterolemia (FH), together with diabetes mellitus (type 1 and 2), chronic kidney disease, heart transplantation, Kawasaki disease, congenital heart disease, chronic inflammatory disease and childhood cancer. Subclinical endothelia dysfunction, measured through non-invasive surrogate methods such as flow-mediated dilation (FMD), occurs early in FH children indicating an increased risk for premature CVD and reflecting the need for early initiation of anticholesterolemic treatment. Moreover, increasing evidences indicate that, in high-risk conditions as well as in most children with a minor degree of vascular involvement, appropriate therapy could prevent and/or reverse the progression of these cardiovascular changes]. Therefore, the identification and the management of hypercholesterolemia in children are of great consequence.