Morphological findings in early cardiac deaths and obtaining genetic material for SNP characterization

Abstract

Background: Cardiovascular diseases are challenging for health systems for high mortality rate association, accounting for 31% of deaths worldwide. They lead majority of death causes among all ethnic groups in people under 65 years old. Most deaths include cerebral vascular and ischemic diseases, heart failure, and arterial hypertension. Modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors have been substrates for genetic studies seeking to determine the causal mutations. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the morphological and molecular characteristics of early cardiac deaths in the Dominican Republic. Methods: Complete autopsy of cases was performed. We obtained data of morphologic findings from myocardium, coronary arteries, tissue processing and H&E staining. We extracted DNA from blood. Purification was performed with the Pure Link® kit of Invitrogen to evaluate the quality of the samples. Results: We examined 26 cases. The mean age of the cases was 50 years. The 27% corresponding to women, mean age was 38.5 years, among men (73%), mean age was 54 years. The average heart weight for women was 458.5 grams. For men the mean 583 grams. Areas of acute infarction appeared in men with 90%, compared to women with 2%, OR 45 with confidence index of 95% (3.3-604), p 0.00038. The volume of collected blood ranged from 1.5 to 4 ml. DNA was obtained in all the cases. Quality of the extracted material showed a higher ratio 260/280 nm. Conclusions: Deaths occurred predominantly in men. Presence of myocardial infarction was frequent. Good quality genetic material was obtained.