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Dramatic response to Evinacumab in a North Indian girl with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia

  • Sonali Arora , Sayan Banerjee ORCID logo , Arun George , Anju Bala , Shyam Kumar Singh Thingnam , Manoj Kumar Rohit and Devi Dayal ORCID logo EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: January 1, 2025

Abstract

Objectives

Homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HoFH) is a rare inherited disorder of lipoprotein metabolism associated with significant morbidity and early mortality. The conventional management with lipid-lowering drugs and lipoprotein apheresis is unable to consistently achieve guidelines recommended low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). We aim to describe the efficacy of Evinacumab, a recently approved monoclonal antibody, in lowering LDL-C in an Indian girl with HoFH.

Case presentation

A 16-year-old girl was diagnosed with HoFH at age two years after the appearance of cutaneous and tendo-calcaneus xanthomas. Genetic testing revealed a pathogenic homozygous deletion in the LDL receptor (LDLR) gene. Despite lifestyle measures, a low-fat diet, and maximum doses of atorvastatin and ezetimibe, her average LDL-C level remained 320.3 mg/dL over the past decade. Her caregivers did not accept LDL-apheresis. She also did not respond to Evolocumab therapy. The patient developed progressive calcific aortic stenosis and concentric left ventricular hypertrophy, necessitating aortic valve replacement surgery at age 16 years. The recent addition of Evinacumab to her lipid-lowering drug regimen, resulted in a significant LDL-C reduction of 76.16 %, bringing levels down to 82 mg/dL. These levels were sustained over the last four months.

Conclusions

Evinacumab offers a promising option for managing high-risk and difficult-to-treat HoFH patients. This is the first Indian child receiving Evinacumab for HoFH.


Corresponding author: Dr. Devi Dayal, Department of Pediatrics, Endocrinology and Diabetes Unit, Advanced Pediatrics Centre, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, 3110, Level III, Chandigarh, 160012, India, E-mail:

  1. Research ethics: Not applicable.

  2. Informed consent: Informed consent was taken from the legal guardian.

  3. Author contributions: All authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.

  4. Use of Large Language Models, AI and Machine Learning Tools: None declared.

  5. Conflict of interest: The authors state no conflict of interest.

  6. Research funding: None declared.

  7. Data availability: The data used in this report is available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Received: 2024-10-22
Accepted: 2024-12-21
Published Online: 2025-01-01
Published in Print: 2025-03-26

© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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