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(Circulation. 2005;112:939-940.)
© 2005 American Heart Association, Inc.

Editorial

Gene Therapy to Treat Aortic Aneurysms

Right Goal, Wrong Strategy

Gilbert R. Upchurch, Jr, MD

From the Section of Vascular Surgery, University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, Mich.

Correspondence to Gilbert R. Upchurch, Jr, MD, Section of Vascular Surgery, University of Michigan Health System, 2210N Taubman Health Care Center, 1500 East Medical Center Dr, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-0329. E-mail riversu@umich.edu

Key Words: Editorials • aneurysm • gene therapy

An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract.

Diseases of the aorta, primarily aneurysms and dissections, are the 14th leading cause of death in the United States.¹ Abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) are responsible for >80% of all aortic aneurysms, with >100 000 AAA repairs performed in the US between 1988 and 2000.² The risk factor profile of patients with AAAs has been well described. This is a disease primarily of older adults, with white men much more likely to harbor an AAA than are black women. Other risk factors for developing an AAA include cigarette smoking, hypertension, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and a family history of aortic aneurysms. Atherosclerosis in other vascular beds also puts the patient at increased risk for the development of an aortic aneurysm.

See p 1008

During the past 20 years, an explosion of information on the pathogenesis of aortic aneurysms has been generated.^3,4 Much of this basic science work has been descriptive and performed by surgeons, who are the primary managers of the treatment of patients with AAAs. This occurred at least partially because there is no proven medical therapy to inhibit aortic aneurysms from forming or slowing their growth once a small AAA has been recognized. Therefore, the management of AAAs is surgical, with intervention occurring once the risk of aortic rupture exceeds the risk of elective repair.

There are 2 surgical options for patients with an AAA once their aneurysm has attained a certain diameter based on 2 large randomized trials.^5,6 Open surgical repair has been established for >50 years and . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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Overexpression of Transforming Growth Factor-ß1 Stabilizes Already-Formed Aortic Aneurysms: A First Approach to Induction of Functional Healing by Endovascular Gene Therapy

Jianping Dai, Franck Losy, Anne-Marie Guinault, Carine Pages, Ignacio Anegon, Pascal Desgranges, Jean-Pierre Becquemin, and Eric Allaire
Circulation 2005 112: 1008-1015. [Abstract] [Full Text]

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