Contributions of Germline and Somatic Mosaic Genetics to Thoracic Aortic Aneurysms in Nonsyndromic Individuals

Abstract

Background Thoracic aortic aneurysm (TAA) is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Although individuals with family histories of TAA often undergo clinical molecular genetic testing, adults with nonsyndromic TAA are not typically evaluated for genetic causes. We sought to understand the genetic contribution of both germline and somatic mosaic variants in a cohort of adult individuals with nonsyndromic TAA at a single center. Methods and Results One hundred eighty‐one consecutive patients <60 years who presented with nonsyndromic TAA at the Massachusetts General Hospital underwent deep (>500×) targeted sequencing across 114 candidate genes associated with TAA and its related functional pathways. Samples from 354 age‐ and sex‐matched individuals without TAA were also sequenced, with a 2:1 matching. We found significant enrichments for germline (odds ratio [OR], 2.44, P =4.6×10 −6 [95% CI, 1.67–3.58]) and also somatic mosaic variants (OR, 4.71, P =0.026 [95% CI, 1.20–18.43]) between individuals with and without TAA. Likely genetic causes were present in 24% with nonsyndromic TAA, of which 21% arose from germline variants and 3% from somatic mosaic alleles. The 3 most frequently mutated genes in our cohort were FLNA (encoding Filamin A), NOTCH3 (encoding Notch receptor 3), and FBN1 (encoding Fibrillin‐1). There was increased frequency of both missense and loss of function variants in TAA individuals. Conclusions Likely contributory dominant acting genetic variants were found in almost one quarter of nonsyndromic adults with TAA. Our findings suggest a more extensive genetic architecture to TAA than expected and that genetic testing may improve the care and clinical management of adults with nonsyndromic TAA.