title: Arterial abnormalities in the offspring of patients with premature myocardial infarction.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Findings from epidemiologic and autopsy studies suggest that the offspring of patients with premature coronary disease may be at increased risk for atherosclerosis. We undertook a study to determine whether changes in brachial-artery reactivity and thickness of the carotid intima and media, two markers of early atherosclerosis, are present in adolescents and young adults with a parental history of premature myocardial infarction.
  
  
  METHODS
  We enrolled 40 healthy young people whose parents had had premature myocardial infarction (48 percent male; mean [+/-SD] age, 19.0+/-5.2 years) and 40 control subjects who were matched with the first group according to age and sex. All the subjects underwent high-resolution B-mode ultrasound examinations for the measurement of the brachial-artery vasodilatory response after arterial occlusion (i.e., reactive hyperemia) and the intima-media thickness of the distal common carotid arteries. Lipid profiles, blood pressure while at rest, body-mass index, and smoking status were also determined.
  
  
  RESULTS
  As compared with the control subjects, the offspring of patients with premature myocardial infarction had lower flow-mediated reactivity of the brachial arteries (5.7+/-5.0 percent, vs. 10.2+/-6.6 percent in the control subjects; P=0.001) and greater mean intima-media thickness of the common carotid artery (0.49+/-0.08 mm, vs. 0.44+/-0.07 mm in the control subjects, P=0.004). In the subjects with a parental history of premature myocardial infarction, an inverse association was found between brachial-artery reactivity and carotid intima-media thickness (r=-0.46, P=0.003). In a conditional logistic-regression analysis, both brachial-artery reactivity and carotid intima-media thickness were significantly and independently correlated with a parental history of premature myocardial infarction.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Structural and functional changes are present at an early age in the arteries of persons with a parental history of premature myocardial infarction.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, A. Cardarelli Hospital, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gaeta
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: De Michele
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cuomo
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Guarini
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Foglia
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Bond
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Trevisan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017668:Age of Onset; D001055:Apolipoproteins B / Q000097:blood; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D001916:Brachial Artery / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000502:physiology*; D017536:Carotid Artery, Common / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017270:Lipoprotein(a) / Q000097:blood; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000235:genetics; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010290:Parents; D012307:Risk Factors; D017539:Tunica Intima / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D017540:Tunica Media / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D014463:Ultrasonography
chemical_list: D001055:Apolipoproteins B; D017270:Lipoprotein(a)