Impact of Elastin Mediated Vascular Stiffness on End Organs

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Status

Completed

Conditions

Supravalvular Aortic Stenosis

Williams Syndrome

Cardiovascular Disease

Study type

Observational

Funder types

NIH

Identifiers

NCT02840448

16-H-0144

160144

Details and patient eligibility

About

Background:

People with Williams Syndrome (WS) and supravalvular aortic stenosis (SVAS) have less elasticity in their blood vessels. This is called blood vessel stiffness. Blood vessels may have focal narrowings called stenoses or may just be globally more narrow.

Objectives:

Researchers want to see how blood vessel differences in people with Williams Syndrome and supravalvular aortic stenosis affect organs in the body including the heart, gut, kidneys, and brain.

Eligibility:

People ages 3-85 who have WS or SVAS

Healthy volunteers ages 3-85

Design:

Participants will have yearly visits for up to 10 years. All participants will be offered the same tests.
Participants will give consent for the study team to review their medical records. If the participant is a child or an adult with WS, a parent or guardian will give the consent.
Participants will visit the NIH where they will have a physical exam and medical history. Based on their health history, participants will undergo a series of imaging tests and measures of blood vessel function over the course of 2-4 days. Tests of cognitive abilites will also be performed. Blood will be drawn and an IV may be placed for specific tests.

Full description

Elasticity in the aorta buffers the body from damage due to pulsatile blood flow. Data from humans and mice show that with increasing age, vessels lose elasticity and become stiff. Vascular stiffness is associated with progressive cognitive impairment and dementia in aging adults, but little is known about the effects of early-onset/congenital vascular stiffness. Similarly, elastin-mediated arteriopathy in the form of stenosis has the potential to impact additional end organs such as the heart, lungs, gut, skeletal muscle and kidney causing feeding and exercise intolerance, as well hypertension. This study evaluates the impact of elastin arteriopathy and vascular stiffness on end organs.

Following consent, the investigators will work with the subjects and their caregivers to determine which tests are most appropriate for the patient based on their age/capabilities and preferences and may include:

testing of cognitive and neurobehavioral abilities as well as measures of general health and well being
undergo non-invasive measurements of vascular stiffness
undergo brain imaging by MRI
undergo echocardiogram
undergo ECG
undergo 24-hour ambulatory electrocardiogram monitor
undergo ultrasound imaging and flow studies of various vascular beds and tissues
undergo CT angiogram of relevant vessels
undergo non-invasive tissue oxygenation and endothelial functional assessment with near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) of the limbs and/or head/brain (fNIRS)
perform a 6 minute walk test
perform pulmonary function tests
receive an eye exam and Optical coherence tomography (OCT)
give blood/urine for relevant laboratories
evaluate biomechanical properties of skin
evaluate baseline fitness information using a fitness tracker
complete medica photography evaluating relevant features of the condition
receive a dental examination and dental photography

Visits may be conducted in person at the Clinical Center, by telehealth, or with a combination of in person and telehealth, at the discretion of the study team. All telehealth activities will be performed according to HRPP Policy 303 and only testing that can be performed at home (e.g. clinical consultations, neurobehavioral testing, fitness tracking, ambulatory ecg monitoring, and photography) will be selected. The other tests require the individual to be on site at the CC.

Consequently, some participants may have certain consultations at home and other testing on site to limit time in the CC

Additionally, the study will request permission to review the participant's medical records to obtain additional information about general and cardiovascular health. For individuals with supravalvular aortic stenosis (SVAS) or Williams syndrome (WS), the clinical report confirming the individuals diagnosis will be reviewed when available.

Enrollment

159 patients

Sex

All

Ages

3 to 85 years old

Volunteers

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

INCLUSION CRITERIA:

We will recruit individuals with people with WS, SVAS or other WS region variation conditions (cases) and demographically similar control (unaffected) participants.

Children or adults with WS must:

be between the ages of 3 and 85
have a presumed or confirmed diagnosis of WS (genetic testing is not performed in this research study).
have a parent/guardian available to provide consent and assist in answering medical questions
not be pregnant

Children or adults with SVAS must:

be between the ages of 3 and 85
have clinical features suggestive of SVAS or an SVAS-like condition OR have no clinical features of SVAS or an SVAS-like condition but have genetic testing results that imply affected status (SVAS has decreased penetrance). No genetic testing will be done as part of this protocol.
have a parent/guardian available to provide consent and assist in answering medical questions if they are a minor (not applicable to adults)

Children or adults with WS region gene changes:

be between the ages of 3 and 85
have clinical or research genetic testing that reports gene variation in a non-ELN gene in the WS region.
have a parent/guardian available to provide consent and assist in answering medical questions if they are a minor or if they have cognitive impairment that would impede their ability to consent on their own behalf.

Children or adults participating in the study as part of control group must:

be between the ages of 3 and 85
not have clinical features or genetic profile suggestive of WS, SVAS or an SVAS-like condition. No genetic testing will be performed in this research study.
have a parent/guardian available to provide consent and assist in answering medical questions if they are a minor (not applicable to adults)