Statins can greatly improve lipid levels in children with familial hypercholesterolaemia without increasing the risk of adverse events, a Cochrane review has found.

The investigators — led by the University of Helsinki, Finland — analysed data from 1200 children aged 4-18 from nine studies that compared statins with either placebo or diet alone for treating inherited high cholesterol.

Baseline LDL cholesterol levels in the cohorts ranged from 5.28mmol/L to 6.48mmol/L, and the median study period was 24 weeks.

The researchers found high-quality evidence to suggest that children treated with statins had significant reductions in both serum total cholesterol and LDL-C levels compared with those given placebo.