Myocardial infarction in familial hyper-alpha and hypo-beta-lipoproteinaemia.

This is the documentation of an acute myocardial infarction in a 45-year-old woman with familial hyper-alpha- and hypo-beta-lipoproteinaemia. This dyslipoproteinaemia has been rarely associated with clinical evidence of ischaemic heart disease. Documentation of angiographically normal coronary arteries in this patient is consistent with the concept that increased alpha-lipoprotein (HDL) and low beta-lipoprotein (LDL) may prevent atherosclerosis. Thus, myocardial infarction in patients with this dys-lipoproteinaemia should be attributable to factors other than coronary atherosclerosis.