title: KIF6719Arg Genetic Variant and Risk for Thoracic Aortic Dissection.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Carriers of the 719Arg variant inKIF6, compared with noncarriers, have been reported to be at greater risk for coronary heart disease (CHD) in six prospective studies. Because CHD, thoracic aortic dissection, and nondissection thoracic aortic aneurysm share some risk factors and aspects of pathophysiology, we investigated whether carriers of the 719Arg variant also have greater odds of thoracic aortic dissection or nondissected thoracic aortic aneurysm than noncarriers.
  
  
  METHODS
  We genotyped 140 thoracic aortic dissection cases, 497 nondissection thoracic aortic aneurysm cases, and 275 disease-free controls collected in the United States, Hungary, and Greece and investigated the association betweenKIF6719Arg carrier status and thoracic aortic dissection, and betweenKIF6719Arg carrier status and nondissection thoracic aortic aneurysm, using logistic regression models adjusted for age, sex, hypertension, smoking, and country.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The odds of aortic dissection were two-fold greater inKIF6719Arg carriers compared with noncarriers (odds ratio (OR) 2.14, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.18-3.9). To account for the potential of concomitant CHD to confound the association between theKIF6719Arg and thoracic aortic dissection, we repeated the analysis after removing subjects with concomitant CHD; the estimates for association ofKIF6719Arg carrier status remained essentially the same (OR 2.04, 95% CI 1.11-3.77). In contrast,KIF6719Arg carrier status was not associated with risk for nondissection thoracic aortic aneurysm.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We observed an association of theKIF6719Arg genetic variant with thoracic aortic dissection in this multicenter case-control study. This association may enhance our management of patients with thoracic aortic disease.
authors.affiliation: Quest Diagnostics Research and Development, San Juan Capistrano, California, USA.
authors.forename: Olga A
authors.initials: OA
authors.lastname: Iakoubova
authors.affiliation: Quest Diagnostics Research and Development, San Juan Capistrano, California, USA.
authors.forename: Carmen H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.affiliation: Quest Diagnostics Research and Development, San Juan Capistrano, California, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Catanese
authors.affiliation: Quest Diagnostics Research and Development, San Juan Capistrano, California, USA.
authors.forename: Charles M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Rowland
authors.affiliation: Quest Diagnostics Research and Development, San Juan Capistrano, California, USA.
authors.forename: May M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Luke
authors.affiliation: Aortic Institute at Yale-New Haven Hospital, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
authors.forename: Maryann
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tranquilli
authors.affiliation: Aortic Institute at Yale-New Haven Hospital, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
authors.forename: John A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Elefteriades
keywords: Aneurysm; Aorta; Biomarker; Dissection; KIF6