Preventive Cardiology Research
To help advance the practice of pediatric preventative cardiology, our team actively participates in several research projects. You will have the opportunity to participate in registries that help connect researchers and patient families together to help better understand heart disease due to high cholesterol.
Familial Hypercholesterolemia
The CASCADE Familial Hypercholesterolemia (FH) Registry is administered through the Family Heart Foundation to raise awareness through advocacy, research, and education. Registries include only those people who choose to take part. Your participation is voluntary.
FH is a disorder of high LDL ("bad") cholesterol that is passed down through families, which means it is inherited. The condition can cause heart attacks at an early age. If too much cholesterol is present in the blood stream, it builds up in the wall of the arteries and increases the risk of heart disease. FH occurs in approximately 1 in 250 individuals and affects all racial and ethnic groups. The purpose of this registry is to help identify people who have FH and family members, and then collect and store information about their health and medical care and track how they are doing over time. We hope this will bring new and better understanding of FH to doctors, patients, and families. This is a registry, which means no experimental treatments or procedures will be performed as a result of this registry. Your treatment and medical care will not change because you are participating in this registry.
Genetics and high cholesterol in children
Our research team is involved in genetic analysis of children with high cholesterol. This study uses genetics, analyzed via saliva collection (spit sample), with a goal to help tailor statin medications (a type of medication used to treat high cholesterol), based on the genetic profile of the person. The goal of this program is to help better prescribe statins to patients for the most effective treatment. We have seen that genetics can influence how statins such as pravastatin, simvastatin, and rosuvastatin are processed. Participation in this program is voluntary, able to be completed during your clinic visit, and your participation is kept confidential.
The Children's Mercy Research Institute
The Children’s Mercy Research Institute at Children's Mercy is creating an integrated research environment where no boundaries exist between science and medicine. In our quest to find answers to pediatric medicine’s most challenging questions, we are collaborating with physicians, scientists, academic colleagues, philanthropic partners and others within our community, and around the world.