Myocardial Infarction (MI)

MI (a cardiovascular disease) generally occurs when there is an abrupt decrease in coronary blood flow following a thrombotic occlusion of a coronary artery that is affected with chronic atherosclerotic lesions. The local thrombosis is triggered by rupture, fissuring, or ulceration, of a culprit atherosclerotic lesion.

Cardiovascular diseases continue to be the principal cause of death in developed countries. Of all deaths caused by cardiovascular diseases more than half are attributed to heart attack (MI). The cost of the disease is high both in terms of morbidity and mortality, as well as in terms of the financial burden on the health care systems.deCODE MI™ detects a genetic or an inherited risk of MI that is independent and in addition to all previously recognized risk factors

According to the National Heart Blood and Lung Institute's (NHLBI) ARIC study, the annual rate of first heart attack (MI or coronary heart disease (CHD)) per 1,000 individuals for ages 65-74 are 19.2 and 6.8, in European-American men and women, respectively. For the same age group the rates are 21.6 and 8.6, in African American men and women respectively. In the older age groups these numbers are much higher with the lifetime risk after the age of 40 of developing heart attack being 49% for men and 32% for women.

Common diseases such as MI occur at the interface of genes and the environment, as both inherited as well as lifestyle and other health risk factors play important roles in the disease process. The conventional risk factors for MI and other atherosclerotic diseases include high serum total cholesterol levels, elevated serum LDL cholesterol, and low serum HDL cholesterol, cigarette smoking, diabetes, hypertension, and obesity.

deCODE MI™ detects a genetic or an inherited risk of MI that is independent and in addition to all previously recognized risk factors and is based on a deCODE study, which findings were published in Science magazine in 2007 (Science, June 8th, 2007, 316:1491 - 1493). According to the study, 20-22% of the general population have been shown to carry two copies of the risk variant. In other words, having two copies of the risk variant - a positive result for the deCODE MI™ test – has been shown to correspond to an approximate 1.6 - 2 fold increase in likelihood of MI. These findings have since been validated in two studies by independent researchers in thousands of people.

If you have additional questions regarding the deCODE study or the deCODE MI™ test, please contact deCODE at diagnostics@decode.com, or by phone at 1-877-222-6510 and a deCODE representative will respond promptly to your questions.