The 1st and the 2nd Italian Consensus Conferences on low-density lipoprotein-apheresis. A practical synopsis and update.

The clinical indications and guidelines for low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-apheresis set by the 1st Italian Consensus Conference held in Ostuni in 1990 and completed in 1992, but never published, are reported schematically. In 1994, within the Project "Prevention and control of the factors of the disease (FATMA)" by the Italian National Research Council, subproject 8 "Control of cardiovascular disease", a "Hearing on therapeutic apheresis: need for a target-oriented project" was organised. The meeting was the last scientific initiative on LDL-apheresis supported by public funds in Italy. After roughly two decades of use of LDL-apheresis, new guidelines were required based on the latest scientific evidence. In 2006, the Italian multicentre study on LDL-apheresis Working Group (IMSLDLa-WP), a scientific initiative at national level, was developed. It initially gathered together 19 Italian centres qualified for the application of lipid apheresis and LDL-apheresis (2007-2008), then 23 in 2010, located in the north, south, centre of Italy and in Sicily and Sardinia. The multicentre study aimed to validate the protocol for selecting patients and to create a network between the Italian centres. A secondary objective was the creation of a database of patients with familial hypercholesterolaemia and other severe forms of dyslipidaemia undergoing treatment with LDL-apheresis using the available techniques. Since LDL-apheresis has multidisciplinary treatment indications, the agreement on the new guidelines was reached through a panel of experts, of different medical and surgical specialties, with scientific and medical interest in the treatment indications, application and development of LDL-apheresis. The initiatives of the IMSLDLa-WP led to the 2nd Italian Consensus Conference on LDL-apheresis held in Rome in 2009. The previous and most recent guidelines are reported here synoptically.