LOW-DENSITY LIPOPROTEIN-APHERESIS IN 2 PATIENTS WITH EXTREMELY ELEVATED LIPOPROTEIN(A) LEVELS

Two male caucasian patients (36 and 42 years old) with heterozygous fa milial hypercholesterolemia and extremely elevated lipoprotein Lp(a) c oncentrations, resistant to diet and lipid-lowering drugs, were treate d with low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-apheresis for 55 months (liposorb er system, Kaneka(R), Japan) and 15 months (immunoadsorption system, s pecial Lp(a) columns, Lipopak(R), Pocard, Russia). Lp(a) dropped on av erage by 50%, total cholesterol by 27%, LDL-cholesterol by 42%, trigly cerides by 43%, and the fibrinogen concentration by 16%. (C) 1996 Wile y-Liss, Inc.