Autosomal dominant inheritance of a predisposition to thoracic aortic aneurysms and dissections and intracranial saccular aneurysms.

A genetic predisposition for thoracic aortic aneurysms and dissections (TAAD) can be inherited in an autosomal dominant manner with decreased penetrance and variable expression. Four genes identified to date for familial TAAD account for approximately 20% of the heritable predisposition. In a cohort of 514 families with two or more members with presumed autosomal dominant TAAD, 48 (9.

Familial thoracic aortic aneurysms and dissections: identification of a novel locus for stable aneurysms with a low risk for progression to aortic dissection.

Background: Thoracic aortic aneurysms leading to acute aortic dissections are the major diseases that affect the thoracic aorta. Approximately 20% of patients with thoracic aortic aneurysms and dissections (TAAD) have a family history of TAAD, and these patients present younger with more rapidly enlarging aneurysms than patients without a family history of aortic disease.

Methods And Results: A large family with multiple members with TAAD inherited in an autosomal-dominant manner was identified.

Analysis of multigenerational families with thoracic aortic aneurysms and dissections due to TGFBR1 or TGFBR2 mutations.

Background: Mutations in the transforming growth factor beta receptor type I and II genes (TGFBR1 and TGFBR2) cause Loeys-Dietz syndrome (LDS), characterised by thoracic aortic aneurysms and dissections (TAAD), aneurysms and dissections of other arteries, craniosynostosis, cleft palate/bifid uvula, hypertelorism, congenital heart defects, arterial tortuosity, and mental retardation. TGFBR2 mutations can also cause TAAD in the absence of features of LDS in large multigenerational families, yet only sporadic LDS cases or parent-child pairs with TGFBR1 mutations have been reported to date.

Methods: The authors identified TGFBR1 missense mutations in multigenerational families with TAAD by DNA sequencing.

Mutations in smooth muscle alpha-actin (ACTA2) cause coronary artery disease, stroke, and Moyamoya disease, along with thoracic aortic disease.

The vascular smooth muscle cell (SMC)-specific isoform of alpha-actin (ACTA2) is a major component of the contractile apparatus in SMCs located throughout the arterial system. Heterozygous ACTA2 mutations cause familial thoracic aortic aneurysms and dissections (TAAD), but only half of mutation carriers have aortic disease. Linkage analysis and association studies of individuals in 20 families with ACTA2 mutations indicate that mutation carriers can have a diversity of vascular diseases, including premature onset of coronary artery disease (CAD) and premature ischemic strokes (including Moyamoya disease [MMD]), as well as previously defined TAAD.

An FBN1 pseudoexon mutation in a patient with Marfan syndrome: confirmation of cryptic mutations leading to disease.

Marfan syndrome (MFS) results from heterozygous mutations in FBN1. However, genetic analyses of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) from approximately 10-30% of MFS patients who meet diagnostic criteria do not reveal an identifiable FBN1 mutation. In a patient who met the diagnostic criteria for MFS, bidirectional DNA sequencing of exons and intron-exon boundaries of FBN1 failed to reveal a mutation.