Genetic test identified risk for AF, ischemic stroke

A genetic risk score derived from 12 genetic variants associated with increased risk for atrial fibrillation improved the identification of individuals with increased risk for AF and ischemic stroke, according to study data.

Olle Melander, MD, PhD, and colleagues analyzed 27,471 participants of the Malmö Diet and Cancer Study to assess the association of the genetic risk score with incident AF and ischemic stroke. Median follow-up was about 14 years for incident AF and ischemic stroke.

The 12 genetic variants are those known to be associated at a genome-wide significance level of P<5x10-8 with AF. This includes four single nucleotide polymorphisms on the PITX2 gene and one each on the KCNN3, PRRX1, CAV1, C9orf3, SYNP02L, SYNE2, HCN4 and ZFHX3 genes, according to the researchers.

Participants were stratified into quintiles by genetic risk score. During follow-up, the researchers documented 2,160 first AF events and 1,495 first ischemic strokes.

Compared with those in the bottom quintile, participants in the top quintile were at increased risk for incident AF (HR=2; 95% CI, 1.73-2.31) and ischemic stroke (HR=1.23; 95% CI, 1.04-1.46).

Adding the genetic risk score to a model of established AF risk factors increased the c-statistic from 0.735 to 0.738 (P<.0001) and improved continuous net reclassification improvement (0.225; 95% CI, 0.187-0.323); P<.0001), according to the researchers.

Source: www.healio.com