Prevalence of hypercholesterolaemia in young Afrikaners undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery. Ischaemic heart disease risk factors.

: Ischaemic heart disease risk factors, with particular reference to familial hypercholesterolaemia, were studied in 47 male and 6 female Afrikaners, aged 55 years and under, admitted to hospital for coronary bypass surgery. The outstanding feature in this group with severe coronary atherosclerosis demonstrated angiographically was that about half had severe hypercholesterolaemia (greater than or equal to 8.5 mmol/l), and that of the severely hypercholesterolaemic patients about half again had familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH). This yielded an overall prevalence of FH in the 53 cases of 1 in 4 (26.7%) and strongly supports the contention that FH is a major risk factor for severe coronary artery disease in young Afrikaners. The only other risk factor of importance was cigarette smoking, about 80% of the patients being current or ex-smokers.