Sudden death syndrome

Cardiac arrhythmia syndrome can lead to sudden death and can strike young and healthy people.

A new study has defined a previously undescribed inherited cardiac arrhythmia syndrome that can lead to sudden death and can strike young and seemingly healthy people.

Published in this week's issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study observed a gene called ankyrin-B, which encodes a protein that coordinates ion channels and transporters and thus regulates the flow of ions in and out of heart muscle cells, which in turn controls the beating of the heart.

The researchers discovered four new mutations on a specific gene that encodes for Ankyrin-B, a protein within heart muscle cells. After screening a group of 664 heart patients from the U.S. and Europe for mutations in the Ankyrin-B gene, the researchers found eight patients with the four new mutations.

According to The Duke Med News, it was found that Ankyrin-B mutations are more common than previously suspected. So researchers are now advocating that all family members of patients with sudden cardiac death should undergo genetic testing.

"We now have a new class of arrhythmias that had in the past been grouped with the Long QT Syndrome (LQTS) class of arrhythmias. We can now say that the new syndrome is completely separate and distinct," said Van Bennett, HHMI investigator and biologist at the Duke University Medical Center, who also led the research.

scientists however are optimistic that beta-blockers should be quite effective in controlling the irregular heartbeats. Therefore, treatment should not be a problem if the mutation is discovered in time.