OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a family history of premature death, cardiovascular death in particular, on the risk of early cardiovascular disease. BACKGROUND: Studies suggest that fatal cardiovascular events and less severe cardiovascular diseases may co-occur in families. Consequently, a family history of premature death may indicate a familial cardiac frailty that predisposes to early cardiovascular disease. METHODS: We ascertained family history of premature death (age <60 years) in all individuals born in Denmark from 1950 to 2008 and followed this cohort for early cardiovascular disease (age <50 years). Using Poisson regression, we estimated incidence rate ratios (IRRs) reflecting the effect of premature death in the family on early cardiovascular disease risk. RESULTS: Among 3,985,301 persons followed up for 89,294,258 person-years, 129,825, 31,172, and 5,214 were diagnosed with any early cardiovascular disease, ischemic heart disease, and ventricular arrhythmia, respectively. IRRs for these conditions given a history of premature cardiovascular death in first-degree relatives were 1.72 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.68 to 1.77), 2.21 (95% CI: 2.11 to 2.31), and 1.94 (95% CI: 1.70 to 2.20), respectively. With ≥2 cardiovascular deaths in a family, corresponding IRRs were 3.30 (95% CI: 2.77 to 3.94), 5.00 (95% CI: 3.87 to 6.45), and 6.18 (95% CI: 3.32 to 11.50). The IRR for any early cardiovascular disease given a family history of premature noncardiovascular death was significantly lower, 1.12 (95% CI: 1.10 to 1.14) (p(cardiac vs. noncardiac) < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Family history of premature cardiovascular death was consistently and significantly associated with a risk of early cardiovascular disease, suggesting an inherited cardiac vulnerability. These results should be kept in mind when assessing cardiovascular disease risk in persons with a family history of premature cardiovascular death.
OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a family history of premature death, cardiovascular death in particular, on the risk of early cardiovascular disease. BACKGROUND: Studies suggest that fatal cardiovascular events and less severe cardiovascular diseases may co-occur in families. Consequently, a family history of premature death may indicate a familial cardiac frailty that predisposes to early cardiovascular disease. METHODS: We ascertained family history of premature death (age <60 years) in all individuals born in Denmark from 1950 to 2008 and followed this cohort for early cardiovascular disease (age <50 years). Using Poisson regression, we estimated incidence rate ratios (IRRs) reflecting the effect of premature death in the family on early cardiovascular disease risk. RESULTS: Among 3,985,301 persons followed up for 89,294,258 person-years, 129,825, 31,172, and 5,214 were diagnosed with any early cardiovascular disease, ischemic heart disease, and ventricular arrhythmia, respectively. IRRs for these conditions given a history of premature cardiovascular death in first-degree relatives were 1.72 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.68 to 1.77), 2.21 (95% CI: 2.11 to 2.31), and 1.94 (95% CI: 1.70 to 2.20), respectively. With ≥2 cardiovascular deaths in a family, corresponding IRRs were 3.30 (95% CI: 2.77 to 3.94), 5.00 (95% CI: 3.87 to 6.45), and 6.18 (95% CI: 3.32 to 11.50). The IRR for any early cardiovascular disease given a family history of premature noncardiovascular death was significantly lower, 1.12 (95% CI: 1.10 to 1.14) (p(cardiac vs. noncardiac) < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Family history of premature cardiovascular death was consistently and significantly associated with a risk of early cardiovascular disease, suggesting an inherited cardiac vulnerability. These results should be kept in mind when assessing cardiovascular disease risk in persons with a family history of premature cardiovascular death.
Authors: Alan S Go; Dariush Mozaffarian; Véronique L Roger; Emelia J Benjamin; Jarett D Berry; Michael J Blaha; Shifan Dai; Earl S Ford; Caroline S Fox; Sheila Franco; Heather J Fullerton; Cathleen Gillespie; Susan M Hailpern; John A Heit; Virginia J Howard; Mark D Huffman; Suzanne E Judd; Brett M Kissela; Steven J Kittner; Daniel T Lackland; Judith H Lichtman; Lynda D Lisabeth; Rachel H Mackey; David J Magid; Gregory M Marcus; Ariane Marelli; David B Matchar; Darren K McGuire; Emile R Mohler; Claudia S Moy; Michael E Mussolino; Robert W Neumar; Graham Nichol; Dilip K Pandey; Nina P Paynter; Matthew J Reeves; Paul D Sorlie; Joel Stein; Amytis Towfighi; Tanya N Turan; Salim S Virani; Nathan D Wong; Daniel Woo; Melanie B Turner Journal: Circulation Date: 2013-12-18 Impact factor: 29.690
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Authors: Anthony N DeMaria; Jeroen J Bax; Gregory K Feld; Barry H Greenberg; Jennifer L Hall; Mark A Hlatky; Wilbur Y W Lew; João A C Lima; Ehtisham Mahmud; Alan S Maisel; Sanjiv M Narayan; Steven E Nissen; David J Sahn; Sotirios Tsimikas Journal: J Am Coll Cardiol Date: 2013-01-22 Impact factor: 24.094
Authors: Naomi N Duke; Todd M Jensen; Krista M Perreira; V Joseph Hotz; Kathleen Mullan Harris Journal: Am J Prev Med Date: 2021-07-03 Impact factor: 6.604
Authors: Andriany Qanitha; Cuno S P M Uiterwaal; Jose P S Henriques; Abdul Hakim Alkatiri; Idar Mappangara; Ali Aspar Mappahya; Ilhamjaya Patellongi; Bastianus A J M de Mol Journal: BMJ Open Date: 2018-06-27 Impact factor: 2.692
Authors: Andriany Qanitha; Cuno S P M Uiterwaal; Jose P S Henriques; Idar Mappangara; Irfan Idris; Muzakkir Amir; Bastianus A J M de Mol Journal: Open Heart Date: 2018-07-17