pregnancy, even in the absence of preconception cardiovascular abnormality, women with Marfan syndrome are at significant risk of aortic dissection, which is often fatal even when rapidly treated. Women with Marfan syndrome, then, should receive a thorough assessment prior to conception, and echocardiography should be performed every six to 10 weeks during pregnancy, to assess the aortic root diameter. For most women, safe vaginal delivery is possible. Prenatal testing can be performed in females with Marfan syndrome to determine if the condition has been inherited in their child. At 10 to 12 weeks of pregnancy, examining a piece of placental tissue through a test called chorionic villus sampling can be performed to make a diagnosis. Another prenatal test can be performed called amniocentesis at 16 to 18 weeks of pregnancy. Marfan syndrome is expressed dominantly. This means a child with one parent a bearer of the gene has a 50% probability of getting the syndrome. In 1996, the first preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) therapy for Marfan was conducted; in essence PGT means conducting a genetic test on early-stage IVF embryo cells and discarding those embryos affected by the Marfan mutation. Prognosis Prior to modern cardiovascular surgical techniques and medications such as losartan, and metoprolol, the prognosis of those with Marfan syndrome was not good: a range of untreatable cardiovascular issues was common. Lifespan was reduced by at least a third, and many died in their teens and twenties due to cardiovascular problems. Today, cardiovascular symptoms of Marfan syndrome are still the most significant issues in diagnosis and management of the disease, but adequate prophylactic monitoring and prophylactic therapy offers something approaching a normal lifespan, and more manifestations of the disease are being discovered as more patients live longer. Women with Marfan syndrome live longer than men. Epidemiology Marfan syndrome affects males and females equally, and the mutation shows no ethnic or geographical bias. Estimates indicate about 1 in 5,000 to 10,000 individuals have Marfan syndrome. History Marfan syndrome is named after Antoine Marfan, the French pediatrician who first described the condition in 1896 after noticing striking features in a five-year-old girl. The gene linked to the disease was first identified by Francesco Ramirez at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City in 1991. Famous patients Famous people who have had Marfan syndrome include: Isaiah Austin Javier Botet Austin Carlile Bradford Cox Euell Gibbons Flo Hyman Jonathan Jeanne Vincent