Parental history of myocardial infarction and risk of heart failure in male physicians

BACKGROUND: Although heart failure (HF) remains a major public health issue, limited data are available on the utility of parental information on the risk of HF in offspring. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We prospectively examined the association between parental history of myocardial infarction (MI) and incident HF among 20,187 offspring in the Physicians' Health Study I. Parental history and age at MI was assessed by a questionnaire and a Cox regression was used to estimate relative risks of HF. RESULTS: After an average follow-up of 19.6 years, 1036 new HF cases were documented. Overall, while a history of early parental MI (before age 55) was associated with a 32% increased risk of HF in offspring compared with subjects whose parent did not have MI, parental MI at older ages was not associated with HF risk. However, the relation between parental history of MI and HF was stronger and mainly observed for HF with antecedent MI. Compared with subjects without parental history of MI, multivariable adjusted hazard ratios (95% CI) for HF with antecedent MI were 3.44 (2.15-5.51), 2.24 (1.20-4.21), 1.26 (0.63-2.51), and 1.37 (0.92-2.03) for parental MI occurred at the age of < 55, 55-59, 60-64, and 65 + y, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that parental MI at an early age is a strong and independent predictor of HF with antecedent MI among US male physicians. This information, along with existing tools, may help clinicians identify patients at risk of HF with antecedent MI.