Today, May 15, 2020 is #REDS4VEDS Day; a global campaign dedicated to raising awareness of vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (vEDS).
vEDS is a dominantly inherited, genetic connective tissue disorder. vEDS is particularly serious because of the risk for spontaneous arterial or organ rupture.
vEDS is estimated to occur between 1 in 50,000 individuals to 1 in 200,000 and results from pathogenic variants in COL3A1, which is responsible for producing chains of type III procollagen, a major protein in the walls of blood vessels and hollow organs. The changes in COL3A1 known to cause vEDS, alter the framework used to build connective tissue, which decreases its capacity to withstand stress.
Potentially fatal effects include arterial aneurysm, dissection, and rupture; bowel rupture; and rupture of the uterus when pregnant. Life span is often affected.