Genetic Test Offers Clues About Cardiac Hypertrophy In Children
A new study conducted by researchers at Harvard Medical School have found signs that pediatric cardiac hypertrophy (the thinkening of the heart muscle) can be caused by genetic mutation. Research has suggested that the mutation lies in the same ten genes that are responsible for the occurence of the disorder in adults. This is groung breaking because diagnostic tests for children have not been developed since little is known about the cause of cardiac hypertrophy in children.
Work with the genetic mutations that take place in cardiac hypertrophy has been going on for years but only for adult cases. This new information can help lead to better understanding of how the gene mutations work and why they present symptoms at different times. According to the researchers working with the study about one-fifth of cases of cardiac hypertrophy are because of this genetic mutation. The genes implicated encode "sarcomere" proteins that make the heart's contractile pump. By being mutated they create an enlarged cardiac wall.
Knowing the cause of cardiac hypertrophy in children is only the beginning. Many children who are diagnosed with cardiac hypertrophy have to go up for heart transplantation. Hopefully defining the problem will help to find a solution.
A study conducted by the Baylor College of Medicine examined eighty-four children with cardiac hypertrophy to the occurance of the genetic mutations. Out of the eighty-four, fourty-six had mutations on the ten suspect genes. Thirty-three of the children had a family history of cardiac hypertrophy and twenty-one of them showed mutations in the same suspect genes. In some cases the children's parents were screen for cardiac hypertrophy. Some were found to have enlarged hearts but did not experience the same problems as the children. Further research is to be conducted to find why this occurs. Until then a way to fix the mutated genes will be studied and hopefully a solution can be found.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080409174618.htm
Work with the genetic mutations that take place in cardiac hypertrophy has been going on for years but only for adult cases. This new information can help lead to better understanding of how the gene mutations work and why they present symptoms at different times. According to the researchers working with the study about one-fifth of cases of cardiac hypertrophy are because of this genetic mutation. The genes implicated encode "sarcomere" proteins that make the heart's contractile pump. By being mutated they create an enlarged cardiac wall.
Knowing the cause of cardiac hypertrophy in children is only the beginning. Many children who are diagnosed with cardiac hypertrophy have to go up for heart transplantation. Hopefully defining the problem will help to find a solution.
A study conducted by the Baylor College of Medicine examined eighty-four children with cardiac hypertrophy to the occurance of the genetic mutations. Out of the eighty-four, fourty-six had mutations on the ten suspect genes. Thirty-three of the children had a family history of cardiac hypertrophy and twenty-one of them showed mutations in the same suspect genes. In some cases the children's parents were screen for cardiac hypertrophy. Some were found to have enlarged hearts but did not experience the same problems as the children. Further research is to be conducted to find why this occurs. Until then a way to fix the mutated genes will be studied and hopefully a solution can be found.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080409174618.htm
posted by Shane Young at 12:40 PM
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