ACDC: Scientists Discover Rare Vascular Disease

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Scientists Discover Rare Vascular Disease

DNA analysis identifies ACDC, where calcification occurs in arteries of legs,

feet

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers report that DNA analysis has

led to the identification of a new and extremely rare vascular disease, along

with its genetic cause.

As described in the Feb. 3 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, the

debilitating, painful and progressive disease is defined by the calcification of

arteries in both the hands and feet of patients, and in the vascular network

below the waist. Arteries of the heart remain unaffected.

Labeling it " ACDC, " the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) research team

has linked the disease's tell-tale calcium build-up to a deficiency in a protein

called CD73. And while the disorder bears some symptoms in common with

rheumatoid arthritis (such as leg and joint pain), the study authors stress that

it is a wholly new disease...

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