Diverse etiology of hyperlipidemia among hospitalized children in Western region of Saudi Arabia

OBJECTIVES: To determine the various etiologies of primary and secondary hyperlipidemia among children visiting the pediatric endocrine clinic. METHODS: This is a retrospective, cross-sectional, cohort study conducted at King Abdulaziz University Hospital (KAUH), Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from January 2010 to 2015 that included 253 children aged from birth to 12 years old. Data were obtained by reviewing medical reports of patients who presented with hyperlipidemia to the clinic, and their laboratory investigation results using KAUH electronic “Phoenix” system. RESULTS: Of the 253 children who were reviewed, those who have shown to have abnormal lipid metabolism with nephrotic syndrome were 35.6%, diabetes mellitus 17.8%, primary/idiopathic hyperlipidemia 19.4%, hypothyroidism 7.1%, obesity 4.3%, metabolic syndrome 2.8%, chronic liver disease 2% and chronic renal failure 1.2%. The body mass index relative to gender and age in this group of children showed that 23.2% were underweight, 38.4% were normal weight, 8.9% were overweight, and 29.5% were obese. CONCLUSION: The highest prevalence of hyperlipidemia was in nephrotic syndrome, followed by primary/idiopathic hyperlipidemia and diabetes mellitus.