Application of specific extracorporeal removal of low density lipoprotein in familial hypercholesterolaemia.

A highly selective method for the removal of apolipoprotein-B-containing serum lipoproteins (low density lipoproteins [LDL] and very-low-density lipoproteins [VLDL]) from hypercholesterolaemic patients by immunoadsorption in an extracorporeal system consists of separation of plasma from the blood cells by a blood-separation centrifuge, followed by the selective adsorption of LDL from the plasma effluent, from which high-density lipoproteins (HDL) and other plasma proteins are not removed, is returned to the patient with the blood cells. Three patients with familial hypercholesterolaemia, one homozygous and two heterozygous, were treated repeatedly during a period of 9 months. No undesirable side-effects or changes in clinical, chemical, haematological, or immunological parameters have yet been observed. The new procedure has several advantages over treatments currently used; it is non-invasive, more specific, and less costly and lowers LDL to a greater degree.