Highlights of the 83rd European Atherosclerosis Society (EAS) annual Congress, Glasgow 22-25 March, 2015.

Abstract

The EAS has already highlighted the underdiagnosis and undertreatment of familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) in the 2013 EAS Consensus Panel Position Paper [1]. This paper has driven numerous initiatives, including FH-Connect [2], under the umbrella of the International Atherosclerosis Society. However, to make policymakers aware of issues in FH care, as a precursor to initiating change, it is essential to obtain information on the contemporary burden of FH. In response, the EAS launched the FH Studies Collaboration (FHSC) [http://www.eas-society.org/fhsc.aspx], an international registry of observational studies on FH. According to EAS President Professor Alberico L. Catapano, University of Milan, Italy: ‘The FH Studies collaboration shows that the Society has the capability to rise to the challenge posed by the unmet clinical needs of this common genetic condition.’ The FHSC aims to provide information on how patients are currently screened and managed, what are the barriers to effective treatment, as well as the impact of patient-specific, genetic, and societal factors on treatment efficacy. The FHSC is led by Professor Kausik Ray, Imperial College, London UK; to date more than 30 countries have already agreed to take part. A substudy of the FHSC will focus on homozygous autosomal dominant hypercholesterolaemia (hoADH), to evaluate the true prevalence and phenotypic and genetic characterisation of this severe form of FH. This substudy (HoADH International Clinical Collaboration, HICC), is jointly led by Professor Derick Raal, University of the