ABSTRACT
High mortality rates have been reported in historical cohorts of acute intermittent porphyria (AIP) patients. The mortality associated with (hydroxymethylbilane synthase) HMBS variant heterozygosity is unknown. This study estimates all-cause mortality in pedigrees with HMBS gene variants that cause AIP. We collected data on the lifespan of individuals in Dutch AIP pedigrees and performed analyses using the family tree mortality ratio method. This gave us standardized mortality ratios for these pedigrees compared to the Dutch general population as a primary outcome. Between 1810 and 2017, the overall mortality in these pedigrees was identical to that of the general Dutch population: (SMR 1.01, p = 0.441). However, compared with the general population the SMR was significantly higher in women aged 45−64 years (SMR 1.99, p = 0.00003), which was based on excess mortality between 1915 and 1964 (SMR 1.94, p < 0.00002). In men aged 70−74 years, the SMR was 1.55 (p = 0.0021), based on excess mortality that occurred between 1925 and 1964 (SMR 1.92, p = 0000000003). Overall, mortality from HMBS variant heterozygosity was not increased compared with the general population. Severe excess mortality occurred in young women and old men between 1915 and 1964. Heterozygotes reached a normal lifespan during the past half-century, in parallel with disease awareness and the prevention of new attacks through family counselling.
ABSTRACT
Cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) remains one of the main long-term complications after heart transplantation. We performed a systematic review focused on articles published in the previous 6 years to reappraise the novel evidences supporting risk factors, pathology, prevention, and treatment of CAV. We identified a search string for a literature search on PubMed. We excluded articles specifically focused on diagnosis/biomarkers/imaging only or complications of other diseases. We included 98 studies out of our search. Forty-eight articles describe risk factors for CAV, 13 pathology, 24 prevention, and 13 treatment for CAV. While confirming known concepts, we found supportive evidence that CAV pathophysiology may vary according to the time post-transplant and the prevalence of metabolic versus immune-mediated risk factors. Selective revascularization of focal lesions in patients with CAV may result in some clinical benefit, but CAV prevention, rather than treatment, by controlling risk factors and by using targeted immunosuppressive therapies is the most evidence-based approach to reduce disease progression.
