Association between parental consanguineous marriage and the incidence, age of onset, and severity of coronary artery disease: a cross-sectional study in Iran.

Abstract

Background: The relationship of consanguineous marriage (CM) with cardiovascular conditions, particularly structural congenital heart diseases, has been well established. Although CM may influence genetic predisposition by increasing oligogenicity and genetic homogeneity, its association with coronary artery disease (CAD) remains uncertain. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between parental CM and the prevalence, age of onset, and severity of CAD.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study conducted between May 2021 and August 2022, a total of 13,151 patients undergoing coronary angiography at the Tehran Heart Center were enrolled. A structured questionnaire was used to collect demographic and anthropometric data, medical history, cardiovascular risk factors, previous angiographic findings, and parental kinship information. Analyses were performed using IBM SPSS ver. 23.0.

Results: Among 11,986 participants, 66.0% were male, with a mean age of 58.9±10.7 years. CAD was diagnosed in 9,083 individuals (75.8%). In total, 1,515 participants (12.6%) reported a history of parental CM. The prevalence of CAD was 3.2 percentage points higher in individuals with parental CM (P<0.001). Additionally, parental CM was associated with an earlier CAD by 2.4 years. However, no significant correlation was observed between parental CM and CAD severity.

Conclusion: Parental consanguinity is associated with a higher prevalence and earlier onset of CAD. These findings suggest that parental CM may be relevant in the context of CAD risk and should be considered in comprehensive CAD risk assessments, particularly in regions where consanguinity is common.