Hyperlipidemia in Children Following Long-term Hemodialysis or Renal Transplantation

Abstract

Coronary atherosclerosis, causing ischemic heart disease (IHD), figures prominently in world mortality statistics. Many reports have indicated that the incidence of IHD may be influenced by heredity or exogenous factors or a combination of both. 1 Whether inherited or acquired, hyperlipidemia has been shown, clinically as well as experimentally, to favor development of coronary atherosclerosis. For example, Cohn et al 2 measured serum lipid levels in 100 consecutive patients with angiographic evidence of coronary artery disease and 100 consecutive patients with completely normal coronary arteriograms. The coronary artery disease group had significantly higher serum lipid levels, especially of cholesterol. Ghosh et al 3 and Casaretto et al 4 found a new cause for hyperlipidemia in adults who had undergone renal transplantation, and Lowrie et al 5 reported that cardiovascular disease is the second leading cause of mortality in adult transplant recipients. In the current issue of the American Journal of