ARG506GLN FACTOR-V MUTATION (FACTOR-V LEIDEN) IN PATIENTS WITH ISCHEMIC CEREBROVASCULAR-DISEASE AND SURVIVORS OF MYOCARDIAL-INFARCTION

The point mutation Arg506 --> Gln of factor V was recently shown to be an important and relatively common genetic cause of venous thromboemb olism. Using a DNA technique based on polymerase chain reaction, we su rveyed the blood samples of 236 patients with ischaemic stroke or a tr ansient ischaemic attack, 122 survivors of myocardial infarction and 1 37 control subjects for the presence of this mutation. Although the fr equency of the factor V mutation in patients with arterial disease (4. 5%) was not significantly different from that in healthy blood donors (2.9%), a carrier status for this mutant gene was associated with symp toms of migraine and relatively mild angiographic abnormalities among patients with cerebrovascular disease. A more extensive study addressi ng the occurrence and significance of the mutant factor V mutation in patients with vasospastic cerebrovascular diseases seems to be warrant ed.