Coronary disease in familial hypercholesterolemia

A report of 20 years' experience with coronary disease in 11 Danish families with hypercholesterolemia and normal serum triglycerides is given. A significantly higher death rate was found in family members who inherited the trait of hypercholesterolemia than in those who did not. The death rate of hypercholesterolemic family members was significantly higher than that found in all other persons of their age and sex living from 1943 to 1964 in Denmark; the death rate for the normocholesterolemic families was not. Most hypercholesterolemic family members died from coronary disease and at an earlier age than is usual for persons with coronary disease in Denmark. There was nothing to indicate that increase in triglycerides rather than increase in cholesterol is related to coronary disease in these families. No environmental factor was found to account for the higher death rate among the members with hypercholesterolemia.