Large-Scale Screening for Monogenic and Clinically Defined Familial Hypercholesterolemia in Iceland

Abstract

Objective: Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is traditionally defined as a monogenic disease characterized by severely elevated LDL-C (low-density lipoprotein cholesterol) levels. In practice, FH is commonly a clinical diagnosis without confirmation of a causative mutation. In this study, we sought to characterize and compare monogenic and clinically defined FH in a large sample of Icelanders. Approach and Results: We whole-genome sequenced 49 962 Icelanders and imputed the identified variants into an overall sample of 166 281 chip-genotyped Icelanders. We identified 20 FH mutations in LDLR, APOB, and PCSK9 with combined prevalence of 1 in 836. Monogenic FH was associated with severely elevated LDL-C levels and increased risk of premature coronary disease, aortic valve stenosis, and high burden of coronary atherosclerosis. We used a modified version of the Dutch Lipid Clinic Network criteria to screen for the clinical FH phenotype among living adult participants (N=79 058). Clinical FH was found in 2.2% of participants, of whom only 5.2% had monogenic FH. Mutation-negative clinical FH has a strong polygenic basis. Both individuals with monogenic FH and individuals with mutation-negative clinical FH were markedly undertreated with cholesterol-lowering medications and only a minority attained an LDL-C target of <2.6 mmol/L (<100 mg/dL; 11.0% and 24.9%, respectively) or <1.8 mmol/L (<70 mg/dL; 0.0% and 5.2%, respectively), as recommended for primary prevention by European Society of Cardiology/European Atherosclerosis Society cholesterol guidelines. Conclusions: Clinically defined FH is a relatively common phenotype that is explained by monogenic FH in only a minority of cases. Both monogenic and clinical FH confer high cardiovascular risk but are markedly undertreated.