ABSTRACT
Lipoprotein(a) is considered an independent cardiovascular risk factor. Forty four children aged between 3 and 18 years old with family history of coronary artery disease and 44 age and sex matched controls were studied. A fasting blood sample was obtained to measure total, HDL and LDL, cholesterol, triglycerides. A1 and B apoproteins and lipoprotein (a). Comparaed to controls, children with family history of coronary disease had higher total cholesterol (177ñ35 and 159ñ23 mg/dl respectively). LDL cholesterol (112ñ34 and 94ñ21 mg/dl respectively), triglycerides (89ñ38 and 71ñ25 mg/dl respectively), apoprotein B (85ñ17 and 65ñ13 mg/dl respectively), and lipoprotein (a) (40ñ50 and 23ñ31 mg/dl respectively). Thirty two percent of children with positive family history had lipoprotein (a) levels over 30 mg/dl, compared to 23 percent of controls. Children with family history of coronary artery disease have higher levels of cholesterol, triglycerides and lipoprotein (a) than matched controls