Management of Hospitalized Children with Severe Hypertriglyceridemia

Review
In: Endotext [Internet]. South Dartmouth (MA): MDText.com, Inc.; 2000.
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Excerpt

Severe hypertriglyceridemia (SHTG) is uncommon in children. Those with triglyceride (TG) levels greater than 1,000 mg/dL are likely to have a monogenic disorder affecting TG metabolism or a combination of polygenic and small-effect genetic variants that increase the risk of hypertriglyceridemia (HTG), in addition to other factors such as obesity and insulin resistance, poorly controlled diabetes, or medications that interfere with TG metabolism. When present, SHTG is associated with an increased risk of acute pancreatitis and, long-term, may contribute to ASCVD-related morbid and premature mortality. In 2011 the NHLBI Expert Panel published recommendations for clinical management of children with HTG in the ambulatory setting (1). Presently, however, there are no pediatric guidelines to assist clinical decision-making when aggressive therapy of SHTG in critically ill children who require hospitalization, with or without pancreatitis, might be indicated. In this article we focus on the inpatient management of SHTG. Other Endotext chapters address genetic and secondary causes of HTG and the outpatient management of these disorders (2-5). For complete coverage of all related areas of Endocrinology, please visit our on-line FREE web-text, WWW.ENDOTEXT.ORG.

Publication types

  • Review