High prevalence of major cardiovascular risk factors in first-degree relatives of individuals with familial premature coronary artery disease--the GENECARD project.

Background: Hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, obesity and smoking are highly prevalent among patients with familial premature coronary artery disease (FP-CAD). Whether these risk factors equally affect other family members remains unknown.

Methods: We examined 222 FP-CAD patients, 158 unaffected sibs, 197 offspring and 94 spouses in 108 FP-CAD families (> or = 2 sibs having survived CAD diagnosed before age 51 (M)/56 (F)), and compared them to population controls.