Genetic Marker May Predict Restenosis

A study has found that a genetic trait may predispose heart patients to rapid restenosis following balloon angioplasty. The study, reported in the February issue of the American Journal of Cardiology, was conducted by Dr. Andrew P. Levy and colleagues at the Faculty of Medicine of Technion (Haifa, Israel), Israel's Institute of Technology.

While 30% or more of angioplasties result in restenosis within six months or so, until now there has been no way to know which patients will develop this re-narrowing. The Israeli researchers have identified a genetic marker that appears to predict which patients are at higher or lower risk. The marker is located on the gene for haptoglobin, an anti-oxidative protein associated with coronary complications in diabetic heart patients.

This finding may play a dual role in cardiology, according to Dr. A. Michael Lincoff, an interventional cardiologist and associate professor of medicine at the Cleveland Clinic (OH, USA). "First, it may help identify patients who may be at higher risk for restenosis or for more accelerated progression of atherosclerosis. Second, it would help clarify the mechanisms behind these processes and help us design new therapies.”