Susceptibility genes for coronary heart disease and myocardial infarction.

Coronary heart disease and its main complication, myocardial infarction is leading cause of death worldwide. Over the past years, much progress has been made in the pharmacotherapy of major risk factors like dyslipidemias, diabetes mellitus and hypertension. The targeting of coronary risk factors coupled with advances in the management of coronary artery disease has improved patient survival. However, the incidence of cardiovascular disease is projected to continue to rise and the identification of individuals at risk should improve beyond the traditional models of global risk factor scoring. In the past few years, important progresses have been made in the area of genomics, especially with the completion of the human genome-sequencing Consortium of 2004, proteomics and imaging. This progress will promote a better understanding of cardiovascular risk assessments and disease prediction, thus allowing earlier preventive strategies to prevent and improve cardiovascular outcomes. These genomic advances have improved characterization of disease pathology especially at the molecular level with the discovery and introduction of genetic markers, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), and haplotype blocks.