Gene Test Could Catch Heart Problem

A series of genes linked to acute aortic dissection could lead to a rapid diagnostic test for this often fatal problem. Acute aortic dissection is a tear in the lining of the aorta, the artery that carries blood from the heart to the rest of the body. According to the American Heart Association about 2,000 people a year in North America suffer an acute aortic dissection.

It is found that 30% of acute aortic dissection patients die within the first 24 hours if they remain untreated because the disease is not diagnosed. The report was presented Wednesday at the American Heart Association's Basic Cardiovascular Sciences Conference, in Keystone, Colo.

In the study german researcher’s team looked at samples of aorta tissue from 19 patients who had acute dissection. These patients had no known connective tissue disease.

The samples were compared with samples from eight patients who had a mutant gene for Marfan syndrome, a disease that affects connective tissue, which in turn makes blood vessels weak. The researchers also compared tissue from six patients who had undergone heart valve replacement.In all the patients who had acute aortic dissection, the researchers found 88 genes that were significantly different from the same genes in Marfan patients and in patients who had undergone heart valve replacement.The researchers found that two of the genes were overexpressed by at least threefold, and two were underexpressed by threefold. The underexpressed genes may explain the cause of acute aortic dissection, the researchers noted.The study was also aimed at the future development of a clinical test for monitoring patients with a high risk of acute aortic dissection. Most acute aortic dissection patients do not have a known connective tissue disorder. The identification of the four genes could be a starting point to develop a diagnostic tool.