Summary

The deletion/deletion (D/D) genotype of the angiotensin convertingenzyme (ACE) has been purported to be a risk for postoperativethrombosis.This D/D genotype has not been evaluatedas a risk factor for idiopathic venous thromboembolism(VTE).The primary objective of the present study was to determinewhether the D/D genotype of ACE is independently associatedwith the occurrence of idiopathic venous thromboembolic disease.We prospectively enrolled consecutive patients with at leastone objectively confirmed idiopathic VTE. Friends of cases wererecruited as controls and matched to cases by sex, ethnicity,and age. Patients were tested for the ACE I/D polymorphismin addition to factor V Leiden, prothrombin G20210A, and factorVIII levels.Three hundred cases and 300 controls were enrolled; 97% wereCaucasian. There were 148 females and 152 males in each groupwith a mean age of 56.21 years (SD=15.33). The ACE D/Dgenotype was present in 25.3% of cases and 32.4% of controlsfor an adjusted odds ratio of 0.66 (95% CI = 0.433 to 0.997).We can conclude that the ACE D/D genotype is protectiveagainst idiopathic venous thromboembolism.