The authors describe a thirty-eight-year-old woman with familial hyper cholesterolemia treated by dextran sulfate cellulose adsorption apheresis. This technique and the selective extracorporeal LDL cholesterol elimination by im munoabsorption or heparin-induced precipitation not only dramatically decrease blood lipids but also result in a marked improvement in the rheologic profile. It is suggested that the amelioration of blood rheology by LDL apheresis may represent the cause for the early clinical improvement felt by most patients with severe coronary heart disease and hypercholesterolemia.
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