Published Online
on June 2, 2005

A more recent version of this article appeared on July 1, 2005

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Submitted on January 18, 2005
Revised on March 23, 2005
Accepted on April 5, 2005

Family History in Ischemic Stroke Before 70 Years of Age. The Sahlgrenska Academy Study on Ischemic Stroke

Katarina Jood MD; Claes Ladenvall MSc; Annika Rosengren MD, PhD; Christian Blomstrand MD, PhD; and Christina Jern MD, PhD^*

From the Institute of Clinical Neuroscience (K.J., C.L., C.B., C.J.), Sahlgrenska Academy, Göteborg University, Sweden; the Department of Clinical Genetics (C.L., C.J.), Sahlgrenska University Hospital/Östra, Göteborg, Sweden; and the Department of Medicine (A.R.), Sahlgrenska University Hospital/Östra, Göteborg, Sweden.

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: christina.jern{at}neuro.gu.se.

Background and Purpose--Results from twin and family history studies of ischemic stroke suggest that future molecular genetic studies should focus on strictly defined stroke subtypes and younger cases. Accordingly, we investigated stroke subtypes, vascular risk factors, and family history in a large study of patients with ischemic stroke onset before age 70 years.

Methods--Six hundred consecutive white participants with ischemic stroke (18 to 69 years) and 600 age- and sex-matched controls were examined for vascular risk factors and family history of stroke and myocardial infarction (MI). Stroke subtype was defined using Trial of Org 10172 in Acute Stroke Treatment (TOAST) criteria.

Results--Family history of stroke was associated with overall ischemic stroke (multivariate odds ratio [OR], 1.75; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.26 to 2.43), large-vessel disease (LVD) (OR, 1.88; 95% CI, 1.02 to 3.44), small-vessel disease (SVD, OR, 1.79; 95% CI, 1.13 to 2.84), and cryptogenic stroke (OR, 1.70; 95% CI, 1.13 to 2.56), but not with cardioembolic stroke. Family history of MI was strongly associated with LVD (OR, 3.25; 95% CI, 1.74 to 6.07), whereas no significant association were observed for other subtypes. We also found an independent association between family history of stroke and a favorable outcome after 3 months.

Conclusion--Family history of stroke is an independent risk factor for ischemic stroke with onset before age 70 years. For the first time to our knowledge, we report this association not only for LVD and SVD but also for cryptogenic stroke, implying that future studies of the genetics of ischemic stroke should target these 3 subtypes.

Key words: genetics • heredity • stroke classification • stroke, ischemic • risk factors

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