Lipid Clinic

Vanderbilt is consistently ranked among the nation’s best by leading authorities on health care quality. People from throughout the Southeast and across the country rely on us for the best and most innovative care possible. 

If you have inherited high cholesterol (familial hypercholesterolemia), our specialists are uniquely skilled to care for you. Patients from all over the Southeast seek our expertise. We also have special insights on combination therapy, understanding which medications complement others and how to balance them for people with lipid disorders.

We work together to ensure that you receive the comprehensive care you need. Our team members collaborate with each other, as well as with experts in other medical disciplines, to provide you with individual care that addresses your unique needs.

Our team will design a diet and exercise plan just for you. We also will tailor your medication or combination of medications. If you have trouble tolerating lipid-lowering medications, we can recommend other treatments that may work better.

 We can help you get approved for specialty medications that may not have been available to you before. Our specialty pharmacy can often make advanced medications, such as PCSK9 inhibitors, more accessible to patients.

If you have severely high cholesterol and medications aren’t lowering it, we provide LDL apheresis. Through a process like kidney dialysis, a machine removes LDL cholesterol from your blood plasma. Patients have this life-saving therapy every one to two weeks, depending on their condition.

As the largest academic medical center in Middle Tennessee, our doctors investigate new and better ways to care for patients with lipid disorders. We participate in studies testing new medications and gene therapy. We also are part of a national registry identifying patients with familial hypercholesterolemia. At Vanderbilt, you have access to promising new treatments before they are widely available elsewhere.

With one of the only cardiovascular genetic counselors in the region, our team can better determine how a lipid condition affects you and your family. If you have an inherited condition, our genetic counselor will evaluate your family tree and identify others at risk. We may recommend genetic testing, as well, which can help guide treatment and family screening.