Venous thromboembolism does not share strong familial susceptibility with coronary heart disease: A nationwide family study in Sweden

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Abstract

Aims This nationwide study aimed to determine whether venous thromboembolism (VTE) shares familial susceptibility with coronary heart disease (CHD). Methods and resultsData from the Swedish Multigeneration Register for subjects aged 076 years old for the period 19642008 were linked to the Hospital Discharge Register and Cause of Death Register. Familial risks of VTE and CHD were examined in two ways: risk of CHD in offspring whose parents had been diagnosed with VTE, and risk of VTE in offspring whose parents had been diagnosed with CHD. The analyses were repeated separately for siblings and spouses. In total, 174 768 offspring had CHD and 56 302 VTE. No association between VTE and CHD was observed among siblings. Among offspring, a lower risk of CHD was observed in subjects whose parents had suffered from VTE [standardized incidence ratio (SIR) 0.94 (95 confidence interval (CI) 0.920.95)], while offspring of parents with CHD had an increased risk of VTE [SIR 1.03 (95 CI 1.011.04)]. In spouses of VTE patients, an increased risk of CHD was observed [SIR 1.02 (95 CI 1.011.03)]. Conversely, risk of VTE was increased among spouses of CHD patients [SIR 1.03 (95 CI 1.021.03)]. Subanalyses of cases of myocardial infarction and pulmonary embolism/deep venous thrombosis showed similar results. ConclusionThe familial background of CHD is different from that of VTE. The present study suggests that it is unlikely that shared disease-causing mutations exist to a large extent in the population.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2800-2805
Number of pages6
JournalEuropean Heart Journal
Volume32
Issue number22
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Nov 2011
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Coronary heart disease
  • Genetics
  • Myocardial infarction
  • Risk factors
  • Venous thromboembolism

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