MICRORNAS AS A MARKER OF CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE IN MARFAN SYNDROME AND MARFAN-RELATED DISORDERS By THUY-MI

Genetic counseling is an important process in the care of patients with Marfan syndrome and related disorders (MSRD) because it provides individualized risk assessment that can aid in determining prognosis and help healthcare specialists optimize management. Marfan syndrome affects many body systems, but aortopathy, or disease of the aorta, is the most common cause of death. Currently, resources for predicting the prognosis for cardiovascular complications in Marfan syndrome are limited. However, in several human diseases, microRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as a promising biomarker, or quantifiable molecule in the body that can indicate the presence of disease (Ikonomidis et al., 2013; Khoury and Tran, 2015). Furthermore, miRNA profiles in peripheral blood are shown to be unique in aortic aneurysms of different etiologies possibly providing information regarding pathogenesis (Ikonomidis et al., 2013). This study explores the use of miRNAs as biomarkers in predicting onset and severity of aortopathy for patients with