TY - JOUR
T1 - Vertebral Artery Diameter and Flow
T2 - Nature or Nurture
AU - Tarnoki, Adam Domonkos
AU - Fejer, Bence
AU - Tarnoki, David Laszlo
AU - Littvay, Levente
AU - Lucatelli, Pierleone
AU - Cirelli, Carlo
AU - Fanelli, Fabrizio
AU - Sacconi, Beatrice
AU - Fagnani, Corrado
AU - Medda, Emanuela
AU - Farina, Filippo
AU - Meneghetti, Giorgio
AU - Horvath, Tamas
AU - Pucci, Giacomo
AU - Schillaci, Giuseppe
AU - Stazi, Maria Antonietta
AU - Baracchini, Claudio
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2017 by the American Society of Neuroimaging
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: In contrast with the carotid arteries, the vertebral arteries (VAs) show considerable variation in length, caliber, and vessel course. This study investigated whether the variation in diameter and flow characteristics of the VAs might be inherited. METHODS: A total of 172 Italian twins from Padua, Perugia, and Terni (54 monozygotic, 32 dizygotic) recruited from the Italian Twin Registry underwent B-mode and pulsed-wave Doppler ultrasound assessment of their VAs. VA diameters, peak systolic velocity (PSV) and end diastolic velocity (EDV) were assessed at the level of a horizontal V2 segment. Univariate quantitative genetic modeling was performed. RESULTS: Fourteen percent of the sample had VA hypoplasia. Within pair correlation in monozygotic twins was higher than in dizygotics (.552 vs.229) for VA diameter. Age- and sex-adjusted genetic effect, under the most parsimonious model, accounted for 54.7% (95% CI: 42.2-69.1%) of the variance of VA diameter, and unshared environmental effect for 45.3% (95% CI: 30.9-57.8%). No heritability was found for the PSV of VA, but shared (34.1%; 95% CI: 16.7-53.7%) and unshared (65.9%; 95% CI: 45.9-83.1%) environmental factors determined the variance. EDV of VA is moderately genetically influenced (42.4%; 95% CI: 16.1-64.9%) and also determined by the unshared environment (57.6%; 95% CI: 34.7-83.7%). CONCLUSIONS: The diameter of the VAs is moderately genetically determined. Different factors influence the PSV and EDV of VAs, which may highlight the complex hemodynamic background of VA flow and help to understand the vertebral flow anomalies found by ultrasound.
AB - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: In contrast with the carotid arteries, the vertebral arteries (VAs) show considerable variation in length, caliber, and vessel course. This study investigated whether the variation in diameter and flow characteristics of the VAs might be inherited. METHODS: A total of 172 Italian twins from Padua, Perugia, and Terni (54 monozygotic, 32 dizygotic) recruited from the Italian Twin Registry underwent B-mode and pulsed-wave Doppler ultrasound assessment of their VAs. VA diameters, peak systolic velocity (PSV) and end diastolic velocity (EDV) were assessed at the level of a horizontal V2 segment. Univariate quantitative genetic modeling was performed. RESULTS: Fourteen percent of the sample had VA hypoplasia. Within pair correlation in monozygotic twins was higher than in dizygotics (.552 vs.229) for VA diameter. Age- and sex-adjusted genetic effect, under the most parsimonious model, accounted for 54.7% (95% CI: 42.2-69.1%) of the variance of VA diameter, and unshared environmental effect for 45.3% (95% CI: 30.9-57.8%). No heritability was found for the PSV of VA, but shared (34.1%; 95% CI: 16.7-53.7%) and unshared (65.9%; 95% CI: 45.9-83.1%) environmental factors determined the variance. EDV of VA is moderately genetically influenced (42.4%; 95% CI: 16.1-64.9%) and also determined by the unshared environment (57.6%; 95% CI: 34.7-83.7%). CONCLUSIONS: The diameter of the VAs is moderately genetically determined. Different factors influence the PSV and EDV of VAs, which may highlight the complex hemodynamic background of VA flow and help to understand the vertebral flow anomalies found by ultrasound.
KW - Doppler
KW - flow
KW - genetics
KW - hypoplasia
KW - velocity
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85014797021&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/jon.12434
DO - 10.1111/jon.12434
M3 - Article
C2 - 28276103
AN - SCOPUS:85014797021
SN - 1051-2284
VL - 27
SP - 499
EP - 504
JO - Journal of Neuroimaging
JF - Journal of Neuroimaging
IS - 5
ER -