Different clinical characteristics and outcomes of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with and without hypertension:seeking the truth

OBJECTIVE To determine the different clinical characteristics and outcomes of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy(HCM)patients with and without hypertension(HT).METHODS A total of 696 HCM patients were included in this study and all HCM diagnoses were confirmed by the genetic test.Patients were analyzed separately in the septal reduction therapy(SRT)cohort and the non-SRT cohort.The primary endpoint was cardiovascular death and the secondary endpoint was all-cause death.Outcome analyses were conducted to evaluate the associations between HT and outcomes in HCM.Medications before enrollment and at discharge were collected in the post-hoc analyses.RESULTS HCM patients without HT were younger,had a lower body mass index,were more likely to have a family history of HCM,and had a smaller left ventricular(LV)end-diastolic diameter than those with HT in both cohorts.A thicker LV wall,a higher level of N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide,and a higher extent of LV late gadolinium enhancement were additionally observed in patients without HT in the non-SRT cohort.The presence of HT did not alter the distribution pattern of late gadolinium enhancement,as well as the constituent ratio of eight disease-causing sarcomeric gene variants in both cohorts.Outcome analyses showed that in the non-SRT cohort,patients without HT had higher risks of cardiovascular death(HR=2.537,P=0.032)and all-cause death(HR=3.309,P=0.032).While such prognostic divergence was not observed in the SRT cohort.Further post-hoc analyses in the non-SRT cohort found that patients without HT received fewer non-dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers and angiotensinconverting enzyme inhibitors/angiotensin receptor blockers before enrollment and at discharge.CONCLUSIONS HCM patients without HT had worse clinical conditions and higher mortality than patients with HT overall,which may result from active medical therapy in HT patients.Active SRT may have a substantial de-risking effect on patients meeting the indications.

Single Nucleotide Polymorphism rs10919543 in FCGR2A/ FCGR3A Region Confers Susceptibility to Takayasu Arteritis in Chinese Population

Background： Takayasu arteritis （TA） is a rare inflammatory arteriopathy of unknown etiology. The aim of this study was to investigate the genetic susceptibility to TA in a Chinese population. Methods： Four single nucleotide polymorphisms （SNPs） those locate in the IL12B region （rs56167332）, the MLX region （rs665268）, the FCGR2A/FCGR3A locus （rsi0919543）, and the HLA-B/M1CA locus （rs12524487）, associated with TA in different population, were genotyped in 123 Chinese TA patients and 147 healthy controls from January 2013 to August 2014. A Chi-square test was used to test for genotype/allele frequencies variants. Results： Among the four SNPs, rs 10919543 was found to be significantly associated with TA in the studied population. The GG genotype of rs 10919543 at the FCGR2A/FCGR3A locus is a high risk factor （odds ratio [OR] = 6.532, 95% confidence interval [C1] = 2.402 - 17.763, P 〈 0.001 ） for TA. Among TA patients, the level of eosinophil granulocytes （Eos） in the peripheral blood was observed to be higher in the GG group of rs 10919543 （n = 23, Eos = 0. I 1 [0.08, 0.17] x 109/L） than the GA ＋ AA group （n = 100, Eos = 0.08 [0.05, 0.13] 10/L, P = 0.028）. No correlation between the genotypes of the other three SNPs and TA patients was observed. Conclusions： Our findings revealed unique genetic pattern in Chinese TA patients that may be partly responsible for the higher risk of TA in this population. FCGR2A/FCGR3A-related immune disorder might contribute to the etiology of TA.

The era of clinical application of gene diagnosis in cardiovascular diseases is coming

Gene diagnosis refers to the use of genetic testing in the diagnosis of inheritable conditions,which has gradually been applied in clinical practice with the completion of the gene sequencing efforts of the Human Genome Project and the advancement of gene detection technology.In the specialty field of cardiology,monogenic cardiovascular diseases are defined as monogenic inherited diseases with cardiovascular damage as the only phenotype,or accompanied by cardiovascular damage.Although the incidence of such diseases is relatively low,in the country of China with its vast population of 1.33 billion,the sheer volume of patients with monogenic cardiovascular diseases is alarming.With early onset,severe symptoms,and poor prognosis,delays in diagnosis and treatment of monogenic cardiovascular diseases often have serious consequences.Gene testing is perfectly suited for early diagnosis of monogenic cardiovascular diseases,especially for“pre-symptomatic”diagnosis.In this article,we generally review the characteristics of common monogenic cardiovascular diseases,summarize the progress of the standardized application of gene testing technology in clinical practice,describe the applicable population and condition of genetic testing for different monogenic cardiovascular diseases,analyze the practicality of genetic diagnosis of these inheritable conditions,and provide guidance on identifying suitable candidates for gene diagnosis.In conclusion,gene diagnosis provides new insights into the way physicians diagnose diseases,and is well-positioned to guide clinical decision making and treatment,especially in cardiology.