Influence of the factor family history on the risk of coronary heart disease

For the purpose of investigating the correlation between incidence of myocardial infarction (MI) and family history of cardiovascular disease (CVD), the study of prevalence of CVD among the first-degree relatives of patients with a known MI episode has been conducted. Medico-genetic files of two groups of patients with evidence of MI on ECG at rest have been analyzed: first group comprising patients who had an episode of MI before 55 years of age and second group comprising patients who had an episode after 55 years of age. A fairly high percentage of CVD in families of majority of patients with a known episode of MI has been noticed. However, this study has demonstrated a relatively low prevalence of coronary artery disease (CAD) and MI, including MI episodes before the age of 55, among fathers of patients from both groups. Moreover, occurrence of CAD and MI in fathers of the subgroup of patients who suffered from MI before 50 years of age of these patients practically showed no difference from that of subgroups of patients with episodes of MI at an older age. A fairly large amount of patients in both groups had no history of CAD in their families (41,5% and 41,2%, respectively). Considering the results mentioned above, there is no evidence to suggest that a predisposition of patients to MI episode at a younger age increases with existence of this disease in fathers of such patients. Results of our study suggest that increased presence of CVD and risk factors in first-degree relatives increases the probability of MI CAD in most patients of both groups regardless of the age of development of an MI episode.