PROVIDENCE – Dr. Melissa Russo, a maternal-fetal medicine and clinical genetics specialist in the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine at Women & Infants Hospital, will use a two-year, $100,000 grant from The Marfan Foundation to study risk factors associated with cardiovascular and obstetric complications in pregnancy among women with a genetic predisposition to aortic dissection.
Aortic dissection is a life-threatening condition in which a tear develops in the inner layers of the aorta, allowing blood to flow through, separating, or dissecting, the inner and middle layers of the aorta. With a dissection in the wall, the blood vessel is weakened and there is a risk for aortic rupture, which can be deadly, according to a statement from Women & Infants.
The aorta is the main blood vessel from the heart that supplies blood to the entire body. Individuals with genetic conditions such as Marfan syndrome and Loeys-Dietz syndrome are at higher risk than the general population to develop an aortic aneurysm, enlargement of the vessel and aortic dissection.
“Marfan syndrome is a genetic condition that affects the blood vessels, skeleton and connective tissues, and these individuals are at risk for aortic dissection. We know that pregnancy in women with Marfan syndrome and related conditions is a high-risk time for aortic dissection, but many of these women, with a prenatal multidisciplinary care team, can have a successful pregnancy,” Russo, the director of prenatal genetics at Women & Infants’ Prenatal Diagnosis Center, said in a statement.
“Currently, we cannot predict who will have a successful pregnancy versus a catastrophic event during pregnancy because the risk factors for aortic dissection during pregnancy are not well understood. We are seeking to address this knowledge gap by building a multicenter database for reproductive and pregnancy outcomes in women with a genetic predisposition for aortic dissection. Our long-term goal is to continue this work and build a nationwide database,” Russo added.
According to a Women & Infants news release, “In pregnancy, there is twice as much blood pumping and the heart is working harder to pump the blood around the body. These physiological changes in pregnancy put women with genetic predisposition for aortic aneurysm and dissection at risk for development of these problems during pregnancy.”
Russo’s research is designed to identify risk factors for poor outcomes in pregnancy and improve the ability to predict a woman’s outcome in a future pregnancy based on the risk factors, Women & Infants said.
Rob Borkowski is a PBN staff writer. Email him at Borkowski@PBN.com.
