Indian Journal of Science and Technology Vol. 5 No. 5 (May 2012) ISSN: 0974- 6846 Research communication “Mammography & neural networks” P.Kulkarni et al. Indian Society for Education and Environment (iSee) http://www.indjst.org Indian J.Sci.Technol. 2755 Influence of parental consanguinity on the prevalence of coronary artery disease in the progeny Prashanth Kulkarni*, Prabhu Halkati, Suresh Patted, Sameer Ambar, Ameet Sattur and S.T Yavagal Department of Cardiology, KLE University’s J.N. Medical College, Belgaum-590010, Karnataka, India docpk77@gmail.com Abstract Over the last decade, cardiovascular disease especially coronary heart disease has become the largest cause of death worldwide. This study was taken to determine the effects of parental consanguinity on the coronary artery disease (CAD) risk in the progeny. Over a period of one year from April 2010 to March 2011, 1000 patients of CAD who underwent cardiac catheterization were included in the study. Among these patients the presence of parental consanguinity and family history of CAD was noted and their impact on CAD risk was determined, controlling for diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, hypertension and smoking. Parental consanguinity was present in 1.5 % (15 patients) of the total CAD patients studied. 1% (10 patients) had both parental consanguinity and family history of CAD. While consanguinity did not promote risk of CAD, but along with family history of CAD it did affect age of disease diagnosis. When both consanguinity and family history of CAD were considered as risk factors for CAD, the mean age of at CAD diagnosis was 51.2 years, compared to 62.2 years for the no-risk factor patient category. Parental consanguinity and family history of CAD is an additional risk factor and lowers the age of diagnosis for CAD. Given the extremely high prevalence of premature CAD in South Asian population, an investigation of recessive genes as predisposing factors for CAD would appear to be warranted. Keywords: Coronary heart disease, Consanguinity. Keywords: Coronary heart disease, Consanguinity. Introduction Deaths due to coronary heart disease (CAD) in India are increasing; from 1990 to 2000, CAD deaths rose from 1.17 million to 1.59 million. It is predicted that annual deaths from CAD will be approximately 2.03 million by 2010 (Ghaffar et al., 2004; Robert et al., 2012). CAD is a multifactorial disease, with both acquired and inherited components implicated in its etiology (Nordlie et al., 2005). Consanguinity, defined as individuals whose parents are blood relatives, has been demonstrated to play a role in the development of CAD in young adults. Enhanced autozygous inheritance of recessive susceptibility alleles influences disease development Independent of family history (Abu-Amero et al., 2006).Consanguineous marriage is common in most Indian communities. Family history of CAD is considered a major risk factor in disease development (Scheuner et al., 1997), not only because of inherited susceptibility genes, but also because of shared lifestyles that may exacerbate individual susceptibility to CAD (Scheuner et al., 2004). Hence, we sought to assess the impact of parental consanguinity on the prevalence of CAD in the progeny. Materials and methods We prospectively included in the study, over a period of 1 year from April 2010 to March 2011, 1000 patients of CAD who underwent cardiac catheterization (Table 1). Among these patients the presence of parental consanguinity and family history of CAD was noted and their impact on CAD risk was determined, controlling for diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, hypertension and smoking. Results Total number of patients who underwent cardiac catheterization during the study period was 1000.Mean Table 1. Baseline characteristics and results Total=1000 patients Family h/o CAD=320(32%) Consanguinity 15 (1.5%) Family h/o & Consanguinity 10 (1%) Age Mean:62.2 ±11.4yrs 56 yrs 54 yrs 51.2 yrs Male 720 (72%) 224 (70%) 14 (93.3%) 9 (90%) Female 280 (28%) 96 (30%) 1 (6.6%) 1 (10%) Diabetes 400 (40%) 126 (39.3%) 6(40%) 6 (60%) Hypertension 530 (53%) 158 (49.3%) 8(53.3%) 5 (50%) Hyperlipidemia 380 (38%) 79 (24.6%) 3 (20%) 2 (20%) Smoking 340 (34%) 69 (21.6%) 3 (20%) 1 (10%) Myocardial infarction 560 (56%) 112 (35%) 6 (40%) 3 (30%) Unstable angina 440 (44%) 208 (65%) 9 (60%) 7 (70%) PTCA 470 (47%) 187 (58.5) 7 (46.6%) 4 (40%) CABG 190 (19%) 40 (12.5%) 3 (20%) 3 (30%)