Pathogenetic Basis of Aortopathy and Aortic Valve Disease (TAA)

Indiana University

Status: Enrolling

Conditions: Marfan Syndrome; Thoracic Aortic Disease; Descending Aortic Disease; Thoracic Aortic Rupture; PHACE Syndrome; Congenital Contractural Arachnodactyly; Loeys-Dietz Syndrome; Thoracic Aortic Dissection; Vascular Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome; Bicuspid Aortic Valve; Descending Aortic Aneurysm; Ascending Aortic Disease; Turner Syndrome; Arterial Tortuosity Syndrome; Ascending Aortic Aneurysm; Familial Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm and Aortic Dissection; Aortic Valve Disease; Shprintzen-Goldberg Syndrome; Autosomal Recessive Cutis Laxa; Aortopathies; Bicuspid Aortic Valve-Associated Aortopathy; Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm

Study type: Observational

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03440697

1509977311

Details and patient eligibility

About

The main purpose of this study is to define the complex genetic and pathogenic basis of thoracic aortic aneurysm (TAA) and other forms of aortopathy and/or aortic valve disease by identifying novel disease-causing genes and by identifying important genetic modifiers for aortic and aortic valve disease severity.

Full description

Thoracic aortic aneurysm (TAA) is a type of aortopathy describing dilation of the proximal aortic dimensions including the aortic root, which is a risk factor for aortic dissection and sudden cardiac death. TAA and other forms of aortopathy (e.g. aortic tortuosity or aortic hypoplasia/stenosis) develop in the presence or absence of additional cardiovascular malformations including bicuspid aortic valve. TAA is associated with connective tissue disorders (e.g. Marfan syndrome), and familial clustering has been identified in a significant proportion of nonsyndromic cases, establishing high heritability. Pedigree analysis of TAA kindreds clearly identifies complex inheritance; however, progress towards understanding the genetic basis of TAA and other forms of aortopathy and, ultimately, the susceptibility to aortic dissection remains incomplete. There is a clinical need to develop novel methods for predicting disease risk based on genotype and phenotype, to further elucidate the genetic and pathogenic mechanisms of aortopathy, and to improve medical and surgical therapies. The overarching hypothesis of this study is that individual genetic variation modulates susceptibility to disease severity and progression. The goals of this study are 1) to ascertain a cohort of subjects who have aortopathy and/or aortic valve disease including TAA or who have genetic risk for the development of aortopathy and/or aortic valve disease, 2) to collect paired blood and tissue samples from well-characterized subjects, family members of subjects, and controls to perform genome-wide DNA sequence, histopathologic, transcriptional, and proteomic analyses, and 3) to establish a tissue biorepository with detailed phenotype information to facilitate a broad spectrum of current and future studies.

Enrollment: 3,000 estimated patients

Sex: All

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Open to external enrollment:

  • Subjects with a genetic diagnosis of Marfan Syndrome (MDS), Loeys-Dietz Syndrome (LDS), or Vascular Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS); (Positive genetic testing or a previous cardiac study required to be eligible)
  • Family members of eligible subjects (Only family members of subjects with syndromic diagnoses are eligible for external enrollment at this time)

• Closed to external enrollment:

  • Subjects with aortic disease including TAA* or dissection, aortic tortuosity, or aortic hypoplasia/stenosis (based on any cardiac imaging modality including echocardiography, CT, MRI, or angiography)
  • Subjects with aortic valve disease (bicuspid, unicuspid, or tricuspid disease)
  • Control subjects having tissue removed during a surgical procedure (e.g. coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG), cardiac transplant, etc.)

Exclusion criteria

• Inability or unwillingness to provide consent (assent when indicated)

Trial design

3,000 participants in 6 patient groups

Aortopathy- Closed to external enrollment

Description:

Subjects with aortic disease including TAA or dissection, aortic tortuosity, or aortic hypoplasia/stenosis (based on any cardiac imaging modality including echocardiography, CT, MRI, or angiography)

Syndromic- Open to external enrollment

Description:

Subjects with a genetic diagnosis of Marfan Syndrome (MFS), Loeys-Dietz Syndrome (LDS), Vascular Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) •positive genetic testing and/or a previous cardiac study required to be eligible

Aortopathy with Positive Genetic Results- Open to Enrollment

Description:

Subjects with aortic disease including TAA or dissection, aortic tortuosity, or aortic hypoplasia/stenosis (based on any cardiac imaging modality including echocardiography, CT, MRI, or angiography) who also have positive genetic testing results related to aortopathy.

Aortic Valve Disease- Closed to enrollment

Description:

Subjects with aortic valve disease (bicuspid, unicuspid, or tricuspid disease)

Family Members- Open to external enrollment

Description:

Family members of eligible subjects •Only family members of subjects with syndromic diagnoses are eligible for external enrollment at this time

Controls- Closed to external enrollment

Description:

Control subjects having tissue removed during a surgical procedure (e.g. coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG), cardiac transplant, etc.)