Hyperlipoproteinemia in newborn infants. A study of 1025 families.

As part of a screening study for the detection of hyperlipoproteinemia in 10,000 newborns, cord serum lipids and lipoproteins were measured in detail in 1025 infants. Elevated cord serum VLDL-LDL-cholesterol could easily be identified by a rapid turbidimetric estimation of cord serum VLDL-LDL. Cord serum VLDL-LDL-cholesterol was found to be significantly higher than normal in premature, asphyxiated and beta-methasone-phenobarbital-ritodrine treated infants. Other obstetric complications, however, were not associated with hyperlipoproteinemia. Furthermore all 2050 parents had their serum cholesterol determined. 3 parents had familial hypercholesterolemia (FH). One child also had FH, though her cord serum total cholesterol and VLDL-LDL-cholesterol were normal. The 2 other children of the 3 FH parents, had normal lipids and lipoproteins both at birth and follow-up.