Fahed Akl C, Shibbani Kamel, Andary Rabih R, Arabi Mariam T, Habib Robert H, Nguyen Denis D, Haddad Fady F, Moubarak Elie, Nemer Georges, Azar Sami T, Bitar Fadi F
Division of Cardiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Departments of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon.
Cholesterol. 2017;2017:3685265. doi: 10.1155/2017/3685265. Epub 2017 Jul 6.
Valvular heart disease frequently occurs as a consequence of premature atherosclerosis in individuals with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH). Studies have primarily focused on aortic valve calcification in heterozygous FH, but there is paucity of data on the incidence of valvular disease in homozygous FH. We performed echocardiographic studies in 33 relatively young patients (mean age: 26 years) with homozygous FH (mean LDL of 447 mg/dL, 73% on LDL apheresis) to look for subclinical valvulopathy. Twenty-one patients had evidence of valvulopathy of the aortic or mitral valves, while seven subjects showed notable mitral regurgitation. Older patients were more likely to have aortic valve calcification (>21 versus ≤21 years: 59% versus 12.5%; = 0.01) despite lower LDL levels at the time of the study (385 versus 513 mg/dL; = 0.016). Patients with valvulopathy were older and had comparable LDL levels and a lower carotid intima-media thickness. Our data suggests that, in homozygous FH patients, valvulopathy (1) is present across a wide age spectrum and LDL levels and (2) is less likely to be influenced by lipid-lowering treatment. Echocardiographic studies that focused on aortic root thickening and stenosis and regurgitation are thus likely an effective modality for serial follow-up of subclinical valvular heart disease.
在家族性高胆固醇血症(FH)患者中,瓣膜性心脏病常因过早发生动脉粥样硬化而出现。研究主要集中在杂合子FH患者的主动脉瓣钙化,但关于纯合子FH患者瓣膜性疾病发病率的数据却很少。我们对33例相对年轻的纯合子FH患者(平均年龄:26岁,平均低密度脂蛋白为447mg/dL,73%接受低密度脂蛋白分离术)进行了超声心动图研究,以寻找亚临床瓣膜病变。21例患者有主动脉瓣或二尖瓣病变的证据,7例患者有明显的二尖瓣反流。尽管研究时老年患者的低密度脂蛋白水平较低(385mg/dL对513mg/dL;P = 0.016),但他们更易出现主动脉瓣钙化(>21岁对≤21岁:59%对12.5%;P = 0.01)。有瓣膜病变的患者年龄较大,低密度脂蛋白水平相当,颈动脉内膜中层厚度较低。我们的数据表明,在纯合子FH患者中,瓣膜病变(1)在广泛的年龄范围和低密度脂蛋白水平中都存在,(2)不太可能受降脂治疗的影响。因此,聚焦于主动脉根部增厚、狭窄和反流的超声心动图研究可能是亚临床瓣膜性心脏病系列随访的有效方式。