Genetic Risk for Heart Attack in the Young, and Healthy Identified

The genetic risk behind spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) has been identified. SCAD is the spontaneous tear in coronary artery which leads to heart attacks in young and otherwise healthy women.

A spontaneous tear of the coronary artery termed as spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) causes heart attacks without warning in apparently young and healthy women. It occurs without any symptoms and is impossible to predict.

SCAD is poorly understood and is thought to arise from a combination of genetic and environmental factors that trigger spontaneous tears in coronary arteries. SCAD is an emergency situation that requires immediate attention.

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‘Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is an unrecognized cause of heart attacks in young and healthy women for which genetic markers have been identified. The generic risk alleles will help in a better understanding of the obscure nature of SCAD.’
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In the latest research by the Michigan Medicine Frankel Cardiovascular Center, new genetic clues have been identified linked to SCAD. The genes help to identify the difference between SCAD-induced heart attacks and the common heart attacks that occur due to the build-up of plaque in the artery and limits blood flow, called atherosclerosis.

"The SCAD risk alleles were inversely associated with coronary disease and myocardial infarction due to atherosclerotic disease, suggesting very different underlying biology in the artery causing each type of heart attack," says senior author Santhi Ganesh, M.D.

"It is especially intriguing that many of the same genetic markers are involved, but in different ways, in both SCAD-induced heart attack and atherosclerotic heart attack."

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Heart attack is the death of the heart muscle due to loss of blood supply. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. Other names for heart attack include acute myocardial infarction, coronary thrombosis, and coronary occlusion.

For the study, a genome-wide survey was used to analyze millions of genetic markers in patients with SCAD. This was then compared to healthy controls. Many specific genetic regions were found to be associated with SCAD.

The genetic risk factors for SCAD also predicted SCAD among individuals with fibromuscular dysplasia, or FMD. FMD is a vascular disease that may affect any artery in the body and is found in some patients with SCAD.

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Heart Attack occurs when the flow of oxygenated blood to heart muscles is hindered or stopped due to built-up of plaques in coronary arteries. Heart Attack is the No.1 killer among Indians.

Migraine headaches were also found to have some genetic alleles associated with SCAD, which indicates a shared genetic factor for migraine headaches and SCAD. More research is needed to understand the relationship of SCAD to vascular diseases like FAD and migraine headache.

"As a physician caring for patients with both FMD and SCAD, it is gratifying to see results from our research that are beginning to uncover the genetic architecture and risk for these diseases about which so little is known," Ganesh says.

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"This unbiased and large-scale analysis has provided us with new clues for where to focus our next steps of research, which is urgently needed. We are grateful for the participation of our patients, without whom these studies and new insights would not be possible," Ganesh adds.

"Identifying these genetic risk alleles helps further advance our understanding of risks of SCAD," says co-lead author Jacqueline Saw, M.D., from Vancouver General Hospital/University of British Columbia. "Whether these findings have implications for SCAD in high-risk populations, such as those with peripartum SCAD, is an important next step of this research."

Source-Medindia