Treatment pattern of familial hypercholesterolemia in Slovakia: Targets, treatment and obstacles in common practice

Maximal doses of potent statins are the cornerstone of treatment of familial hypercholesterolemia (FH). Despite this, a substantial proportion of FH patients are either under-treated or not treated at all. The aim of this work was to evaluate, in a retrospective study, the treatment of FH patients, the proportion of FH patients reaching low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) goals, and reasons for not reaching LDL-C goals, in 8 lipid clinics in Slovakia dealing with FH patients. 201 heterozygous FH patients (50.8 ± 14.9 years, 55% females) who attended the lipid clinics at least three times were included in the study. At the first visit, 31.3% of patients were treated with statins and the most common dose was 20 mg of atorvastatin, rosuvastatin and simvastatin. At the third visit, 78.1% of patients were treated with statins and 24.4% with ezetimibe. The majority of patients were treated with atorvastatin (75.8%) and rosuvastatin (18.5%) and 31.3% of all patients were treated with atorvastatin 80 mg or rosuvastatin 40 mg with/without ezetimibe. However, only 11.9% of patients with the LDL-C goal level