1. Severe Hypertriglyceridemia in a Newborn with Monogenic Lipoprotein Lipase Deficiency: An Unconventional Therapeutic Approach with Exchange Transfusion
- Author
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Cristina Pederiva, Fabio Mosca, Carlo Pietrasanta, Sebastiano Calandra, Stefano Bertolini, Lorenza Pugni, Claudio Rabacchi, and Enrica Riva
- Subjects
medicine.medical_specialty ,Lipoprotein lipase ,Pediatrics ,business.industry ,medicine.medical_treatment ,Exchange transfusion ,Compound heterozygosity ,medicine.disease ,Article ,Lipoprotein lipase deficiency ,Endocrinology ,Internal medicine ,medicine ,Acute pancreatitis ,Plasmapheresis ,Risk factor ,Adverse effect ,business - Abstract
Severe hypertriglyceridemia (sHTG) (plasma triglyceride level > 10 mmol/L) due to lipoprotein lipase (LPL) deficiency is a known risk factor for acute pancreatitis. A 23-day-old male with sHTG was admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for plasmapheresis being at high risk for acute pancreatitis. Given the potential hazard of an extracorporeal technique in a very young infant, we decided to perform an exchange transfusion (ET), a procedure widely used by neonatologists and less invasive than plasmapheresis. ET led to a dramatic reduction in plasma triglyceride level, from 93.2 to 3.8 mmol/L at the end of the procedure, without adverse events. The subsequent administration of a special formula low in fat and high in medium-chain triglycerides was effective in keeping fasting plasma triglyceride level below 5.6 mmol/L during the first 5 months of life. The sequence of LPL gene revealed that the patient was apparently homozygous for a novel nucleotide deletion (c.840delG) in exon 6 leading to a premature termination codon (p.N281Mfs*23). However, family studies revealed that while the patient’s mother was heterozygous for this mutation, the father was heterozygous for a novel deletion eliminating the whole LPL gene. The patient therefore turned out to be a compound heterozygous for two LPL gene mutations predicted to abolish LPL activity. This is the first case of sHTG treated with ET in a neonate reported in the literature. ET appears to be a safe procedure, alternative to plasmapheresis, to prevent acute pancreatitis in young infants with sHTG due to LPL deficiency.
- Published
- 2013