The pathogenesis of thoracic aortic aneurysm from hereditary perspective

Thoracic aortic aneurysm is extremely threatening due to high risk of dissection and rupture. Genetic factors play decisive role in the pathogenesis of thoracic aortic aneurysm. Recent years, several genes are considered to be associated with thoracic aortic aneurysm, among these genes, 11 gene variants identified are responsible for thoracic aortic aneurysm. In this review, we mainly discussed the function of the 11 gene variants in thoracic aortic aneurysm and the histology and cytokine signaling alterations induced by these gene variants.