Defining severe familial hypercholesterolaemia and the implications for clinical management: a consensus statement from the International Atherosclerosis Society Severe Familial Hypercholesterolemia Panel.

Familial hypercholesterolaemia is common in individuals who had a myocardial infarction at a young age. As many as one in 200 people could have heterozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia, and up to one in 300 000 individuals could be homozygous. The phenotypes of heterozygous and homozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia overlap considerably; the response to treatment is also heterogeneous.