Familial aortic aneurysms

Abstract

Thoracic aortic aneurysms and dissections can occur in families w~th autosomal dominant inheritance. Mutations in the fibrillin-l gene on chromosome 15 cause Marfan syndrome (MFS), a known cause of famllial aort~c aneurysms and dissections. Affected individuals have phenotypic stlgmata involving the skeletal, ophthalmologic and other systems. Mutations in the type Ill procollagen gene cause the vascular type o f Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS