Abstract Background Mitral valve (MV) pathology, including prolapse and regurgitation, is a well-known cardiovascular manifestation associated with the genes that predispose to Heritable Thoracic Aortic Disease (HTAD). The extent which there are differences in prevalence, presentation severity of MV pathology as function underlying genetic cause has not been investigated detail. Purpose Assess ...

Study Hypothesis The genetic origins of thoracic aortic aneurysms and dissections (TAAD) are relatively unknown. Twenty percent of cases have similarly affected family members, but genes previously identified for familial TAAD have exhibited reduced penetrance and variable severity. The genes previously implicated in familial TAAD (ACTA2, MYH11, TGFBR1, TGFBR2) have all been found to be involve...