The FLEMENGHO study

Since 1985, the University of Leuven conducts a large-scale population study to unravel the genetic and environmental factors contributing to the development of cardiovascular diseases. In addition, the study aims to identify novel biomarkers of cardiovascular health predicting future disease. The FLEMENGHO study is conducted by the Research Unit Hypertension and Cardiovascular Epidemiology within the Department of Cardiovascular Sciences (KU Leuven).

3500+ participants

Participants regularly undergo a thorough medical examination during which their cardiovascular health is assessed, blood sampling is performed and health questionnaires are completed.

Extensive database

40 jaar aan longitudinale data
Clinical and deep cardiovascular phenotypes
Data available conditional upon ethical approval.

Societal impact

300+ publications in authoritative journals
Implementation of study findings in guidelines and recommendations on hypertension and cardiovascular imaging
Scientific dissemination and media coverage

As FLEMENGHO participant

When participating to the FLEMENGHO study, you can rest assured that your personal data, identity and privacy are maximally protected. All data collected throughout the study is processed in compliance with Europe's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Belgian Legislation on protection of personal data of natural persons.

For external researchers

The FLEMENGHO database is a rich resource of information on disease prevalence and incidence and contains extensive cardiovascular phenotypes, including:

blood pressure (conventional and ambulatory)
cardiac imaging (echocardiography and electrocardiography)
cardiopulmonary fitness (bike exercise test with stress echocardiography)
vascular phenotypes such as arterial stiffness, endothelial function, ABI and cIMT

FLEMENGHO has a rich biobank containing over 50,000 biological samples.

All FLEMENGHO data and samples are available for secondary use conditional upon ethical approval.

Nederlands (België)