Genetics of blood vessel muscle spasms

There are three layers of tissues between the scull and the brain. The space between the middle layer and the one directly on top of the brain is the subarachnoid space. Spinal fluid and blood vessels fill this space. Arteries are the blood vessels that deliver oxygen-rich blood to the brain. Sometimes, weak areas can form in artery walls. This causes them to get wider, or balloon in those areas. These weak areas are at risk for breaking, which can cause bleeding. High blood pressure, high cholesterol, and smoking can increase your chances of this happening. A stroke occurs when oxygen gets cut off to part of the brain. If an artery in the subarachnoid space bursts, it will bleed into that space. When this happens, oxygen does not reach that part of the brain. The technical term for this type of stroke is subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). Weak artery walls are the main cause of SAH. One out of three people that have an SAH die. Of the ones that survive, half are disabled from the SAH. After an SAH, blood builds up in the subarachnoid space. The blood gets trapped between the brain and the skull. This puts pressure on the brain. It also puts pressure on the other arteries in that space. This can cause the walls of the artery to tighten up or spasm. This is a vasospasm. When this happens, it creates narrow areas of the blood vessel. This reduces the blood flow to that area of the brain which can cause another stroke. Vasospasm can also occur in other arteries in the body. Lots of genes are in muscle cells of blood vessels. Changes in some of these genes may play a role in your risk for vasospasm. Scientists have already found one gene change linked to vasospasm after SAH. Other scientists found a link between gene changes and vasospasm in heart arteries. Scientists in this study are focusing on SAH that occurs due ballooning or widening of arteries in the subarachnoid space. This type of SAH is aSAH. They will use BioVU to look for people who have had aSAH. Then they will look to see if they have the gene changes already linked to vasospasm. Vanderbilt scientists will also check for links to changes in related genes. A link will help doctors figure out who might be at risk for vasospasm after SAH.