Taller height identified as risk factor for development of varicose veins
![Large peridevice leaks after left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO) are incredibly rare and not associated with a greater risk of adverse outcomes, according to new research published in JACC: Clinical Electrophysiology.[1] Smaller residual links are more common, however, and associated with a risk of thromboembolic and bleeding events.](/sites/default/files/styles/top_stories/public/2018-08/olderpatient-doctor.jpg.webp?itok=Cv18wcDr)
Height—and the genes that influence it—are important predictors for the development of varicose veins, according to a study out of Stanford University.
The research, funded in part by the National Institutes of Health and published this week in Circulation, looked to identify risk factors and genetic markers for the future development of varicose vein disease. Lead author Nicholas J. Leeper, MD, and colleagues drew from the U.K. Biobank for the trial, which screened for risk factors among nearly half a million adults.
“Ultimately, the goal of defining the clinical and genetic factors underlying disease is to improve identification of at-risk individuals, implement targeted prevention strategies and develop effective therapies,” Quinn S. Wells, MD, MSc, of Vanderbilt University Medical Center, wrote in a related editorial in Circulation. “Despite their commonness and associated morbidity, varicose veins have not been the focus of extensive investigation.”
They should be though, Wells said—especially because they affect nearly a quarter of American adults and have been associated with serious medical conditions like venous thromboembolism. Still, he said, they’re often “written off as an unsightly nuisance.”
Leeper and his team looked for varicose vein risk factors in 493,519 people in the Biobank database using a machine learning algorithm, then screened an additional 337,536 for genetic markers. Nearly 10,000 patients in the latter group had been previously diagnosed with varicose vein disease.
Alongside confirming several known risk factors for varicose veins, including age, gender, weight, pregnancy and history of thrombosis, the researchers found that taller height, and the genes that determine height, were strong predictors of future vein development. There was also a significant genetic link between deep vein thrombosis and varicose veins.
“Several aspects of the study are especially notable, including the scale and utilization of diverse, complementary analytic methodologies,” Wells wrote. “The application of machine learning algorithms to a large clinical cohort represents a new paradigm for exploring the epidemiology of varicose veins.”
He said the methods Leeper et al. explored, as well as modern genomic approaches, provide the field with “unprecedented insight” into the condition.
“However, in some respects, it is only the first step,” he wrote. “Future epidemiologic efforts are needed to determine whether the observed clinical and genetic associations can be replicated, especially in populations outside the middle-aged British subjects included in this study.”
After graduating from Indiana University-Bloomington with a bachelor’s in journalism, Anicka joined TriMed’s Chicago team in 2017 covering cardiology. Close to her heart is long-form journalism, Pilot G-2 pens, dark chocolate and her dog Harper Lee.