A recent Kaiser Permanente study highlights the power of genetics in identifying individuals at high risk for coronary heart disease (CHD), even when traditional risk factors appear normal. The study used a polygenic risk score (PRS) to better predict an individual's susceptibility to heart disease, emphasizing the potential for more personalized and preventative medical care.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in the US and worldwide with over 82 million Americans living with CVD.

The presentation titled ‘Enhancing the PREVENT Equation with a Polygenic Risk Score: Clinical Utility' showed the latest ASCVD clinical prediction tool ‘PREVENT' was significantly enhanced by the inclusion of CARDIO inCode-Score (PRS), improving the predictive accuracy in personalised risk assessment for prevention of CHD.

CARDIO inCode-Score is a clinically validated, commercially available polygenic risk score based on DNA extracted from a simple saliva or blood sample. The risk score has been designed and optimized for multi-ethnic population-based risk prediction and primary prevention of CHD in healthcare systems.

GENinCode has worked with Kaiser Permanente Departments of Research and Cardiology on the clinical research and development of CARDIO inCode-Score for over 15 years. The multi-ancestry population study based on the Northern California GERA cohort studied over 60,000 individuals, 30-74 years of age, with follow up of 14 years and represents the latest in a series of CARDIO inCode-Score clinical utility publications.

The AHA presentation showed that integrating CARDIO inCode-Score with the PREVENT equation improves prediction of CHD events with statistical significance.

The benefit was particularly evident among borderline and intermediate PREVENT risk individuals, where there is uncertainty in clinical decision-making regarding statin initiation or intensification.

Richard Kovacs and Sally Russell Professor of Cardiology at the Indiana University School of Medicine and Chief Medical Officer of the American College of Cardiology and Past President of the American College of Cardiology have hailed the study.

"These results provide further compelling clinical evidence for the inclusion of polygenic risk scores (PRS) in conjunction with clinical risk for improved risk assessment of CHD. The polygenic risk score is especially important in relation to patients clinically classified at borderline/intermediate risk and younger patients with a family history of CHD. The recent scientific statements and acknowledgment of the value of PRS by the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association is also welcome."