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Center for Common Disease Genomics [CCDG] - Cardiovascular: The Genetics of Atrial Fibrillation

This study is a part of NHGRI's Center for Common Disease Genomics, which is a collaborative large-scale genome sequencing effort to comprehensively identify rare risk and protective variants contributing to multiple common disease phenotypes. Current estimates anticipate that the CCDG program will sequence approximately 140K whole genomes and 225K whole exomes during the life of the project.

The Cardiovascular Disease working group of the CCDG considered five diseases: early-onset coronary artery disease (EOCAD), stroke, atrial fibrillation, congestive heart failure and type 2 diabetes. Atrial fibrillation will affect between 6-12 million individuals in the US by 2050. AF also is associated with increased risks of stroke, dementia, heart failure, death, and high health care costs. Many risk factors for AF have been identified, including advancing age, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and CVD risk factors. However, there is little knowledge how to prevent AF. Furthermore, therapies for AF are only partially effective, and are themselves associated with substantial morbidity. Previously, heritable forms of AF have been considered rare; yet in the last decade, it has been established that AF, and in particular early-onset forms of AF, are heritable. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) provide a powerful tool to identify common variants underlying disease risk. The AFGen Consortium currently consists of investigators from more than 25 studies with >20,000 individuals with AF and >100,000 without AF. In the latest analyses, 14 loci have been identified for AF1 . Broadly, the loci implicate genes related to cardiopulmonary development, cardiac-expressed ion channels, and cell signaling molecules.

Source: https://ccdg.rutgers.edu/sites/default/files/CCDG_CVD_EOAF_FINAL_w_link.pdf

For this study, The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard generated genetic data for UWO Genetic Investigation of Supraventricular Tachycardias.

Patients confirmed to possess a supraventricular tachycardia and/or an accessory pathway at the time of invasive electrophysiology study at the London Health Sciences Centre, London, Ontario, Canada were eligible for enrollment. Potential supraventricular tachycardias included atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia (AVNRT), atrioventricular reentrant tachycardia (AVRT), atrial tachycardia, junctional tachycardia, atriofascicular tachycardia, nodofascicular tachycardia, and nodoventricular tachycardia. Patients that did not have inducible supraventricular tachycardia, but had an accessory pathway that conducted antegrade, retrograde, or both, were also eligible for enrollment. All patients additionally underwent, at minimum, a clinical history, physical examination, 12-lead ECG, and echocardiogram. Study participants provided informed written consent under a protocol approved by the research ethics board of Western University.

Raw sequencing data, metadata, vcf and phenotype data at individual level are available at https://anvilproject.org/data For questions about availability contact help@lists.anvilproject.org.