Search

Background: The long-term prognosis of patients with a loss-of-function variant in the cardiac sodium channel gene SCN5A is unknown., Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the long-term arrhythmic risk in patients with an SCN5A loss-of-function variant to identify predictors of arrhythmic events., Methods: Probands and family members with (likely) pathogenic SCN5A loss-of-function variants were retrospectively included. Clinical and electrocardiographic data at baseline and last follow-up were collected. Patients with a history of cardiac arrest, sustained ventricular tachycardia, symptomatic or documented atrial tachy- or bradyarrhythmia, or arrhythmogenic syncope were categorized as symptomatic. Arrhythmic events at follow-up were defined as sudden death, aborted cardiac arrest, documented ventricular fibrillation, and/or sustained ventricular tachycardia., Results: We included 615 patients (349 men, 242 probands, 157 with a spontaneous type 1 Brugada electrocardiogram, and 111 symptomatic at baseline). During a median follow-up of 9.5 (Q1,Q3 5.0-14.3) years, arrhythmic events occurred in 41 patients (6.7%), equating an overall event rate of 0.7%/y: 2.0%/y in symptomatic and 0.3%/y in asymptomatic patients. In the overall study population, symptoms at baseline, male sex, and QRS prolongation were identified as independent predictors of arrhythmic events. In asymptomatic patients, male sex and QRS prolongation were also identified as predictors. Asymptomatic women with QRS interval < 100 ms did not experience arrhythmic events at follow-up., Conclusion: Key predictors of arrhythmic risk in patients with an SCN5A loss-of-function variant, regardless of a Brugada syndrome diagnosis, are symptoms at baseline, male sex, and prolonged QRS interval. Our findings may enable more tailored management strategies in patients with an SCN5A loss-of-function variant based on their individual risk profiles., Competing Interests: Disclosures The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2024 Heart Rhythm Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: MYH7 variants cause hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), noncompaction cardiomyopathy (NCCM), and dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). Screening of relatives of patients with genetic cardiomyopathy is recommended from 10 to 12 years of age onward, irrespective of the affected gene., Objectives: This study sought to study the penetrance and prognosis of MYH7 variant-associated cardiomyopathies., Methods: In this multicenter cohort study, penetrance and major cardiomyopathy-related events (MCEs) were assessed in carriers of (likely) pathogenic MYH7 variants by using Kaplan-Meier curves and log-rank tests. Prognostic factors were evaluated using Cox regression with time-dependent coefficients., Results: In total, 581 subjects (30.1% index patients, 48.4% male, median age 37.0 years [IQR: 19.5-50.2 years]) were included. HCM was diagnosed in 226 subjects, NCCM in 70, and DCM in 55. Early penetrance and MCEs (age <12 years) were common among NCCM-associated variant carriers (21.2% and 12.0%, respectively) and DCM-associated variant carriers (15.3% and 10.0%, respectively), compared with HCM-associated variant carriers (2.9% and 2.1%, respectively). Penetrance was significantly increased in carriers of converter region variants (adjusted HR: 1.87; 95% CI: 1.15-3.04; P = 0.012) and at age ≤1 year in NCCM-associated or DCM-associated variant carriers (adjusted HR: 21.17; 95% CI: 4.81-93.20; P < 0.001) and subjects with a family history of early MCEs (adjusted HR: 2.45; 95% CI: 1.09-5.50; P = 0.030). The risk of MCE was increased in subjects with a family history of early MCEs (adjusted HR: 1.82; 95% CI: 1.15-2.87; P = 0.010) and at age ≤5 years in NCCM-associated or DCM-associated variant carriers (adjusted HR: 38.82; 95% CI: 5.16-291.88; P < 0.001)., Conclusions: MYH7 variants can cause cardiomyopathies and MCEs at a young age. Screening at younger ages may be warranted, particularly in carriers of NCCM- or DCM-associated variants and/or with a family history of MCEs at <12 years., Competing Interests: Funding Support and Author Disclosures This work was supported by the Netherlands Cardiovascular Research Initiative with the support of the Dutch Heart Foundation. Dr Jansen has received support from the Netherlands Cardiovascular Research Initiative with the support of the Dutch Heart Foundation (CVON2014-40 DOSIS, DCVA [Dutch Cardiovascular Alliance] 2020B005 DoubleDose) and from the Dutch Heart Foundation (Dekker 2015T041). Dr Christiaans has received support from the Netherlands Cardiovascular Research Initiative with the support of the Dutch Heart Foundation (CVON2015-12 e-Detect). Dr de Boer has received support from the Netherlands Cardiovascular Research Initiative with the support of the Dutch Heart Foundation (CVON2014-40 DOSIS, DCVA 2020B005 DoubleDose). Dr van Tintelen has received support from the Netherlands Cardiovascular Research Initiative with the support of the Dutch Heart Foundation (CVON2014-40 DOSIS, DCVA 2020B005 DoubleDose and CVON2015-12 e-Detect). Dr Asselbergs has received support from the Netherlands Cardiovascular Research Initiative with the support of the Dutch Heart Foundation (CVON2014-40 DOSIS, DCVA 2020B005 DoubleDose and CVON2015-12 e-Detect) and from the UCL Hospitals NIHR Biomedical Research Centre. Dr Baas has received support from the Netherlands Cardiovascular Research Initiative with the support of the Dutch Heart Foundation (CVON2014-40 DOSIS, DCVA 2020B005 DoubleDose and CVON2015-12 e-Detect) and from the Dutch Heart Foundation (Dekker 2015T041). All other authors have reported that they have no relationships relevant to the contents of this paper to disclose., (Copyright © 2024 American College of Cardiology Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Idiopathic ventricular fibrillation (IVF) is diagnosed in patients with sudden onset of ventricular fibrillation of unidentified origin. New diagnostic tools that can detect subtle abnormalities are needed to diagnose and treat patients with an underlying substrate., Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore echocardiographic deformation characteristics in IVF patients., Methods: Echocardiograms were analyzed with deformation imaging by 2-dimensional speckle tracking. Global and regional measurements of the left ventricle (LV) and right ventricle (RV) were performed. Regional LV deformation patterns were evaluated for the presence of postsystolic shortening. Regional RV deformation patterns were classified as type I (normal) or type II/III (abnormal)., Results: In total, 47 IVF patients (mean age 45 years; left ventricular ejection fraction [LVEF] 56%) and 47 healthy controls (mean age 41 years; LVEF 60%) were included. IVF patients showed more global deformation abnormalities as indicated by lower LV global longitudinal strain (18.5% ± 2.6% vs 21.6% ± 1.8%; P <.001) and higher LV mechanical dispersion (41 ± 12 ms vs 26 ± 6 ms; P <.001). In addition, IVF patients showed more regional LV postsystolic shortening compared to healthy controls (50% vs 11%; P <.001). Abnormal RV deformation patterns were observed in 16% of IVF patients and in none of the control subjects (P <.001)., Conclusion: We were able to show both regional and global echocardiographic deformation abnormalities in IVF patients. This study provides evidence that localized myocardial disease is present in a subset of IVF patients., (Copyright © 2021 Heart Rhythm Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The pathogenic mutation p.Arg14del in the gene encoding Phospholamban (PLN) is known to cause cardiomyopathy and leads to increased risk of sudden cardiac death. Automatic tools might improve the detection of patients with this rare disease. Deep learning is currently the state-of-the-art in signal processing but requires large amounts of data to train the algorithms. In situations with relatively small amounts of data, like PLN, transfer learning may improve accuracy. We propose an ECG-based detection of the PLN mutation using transfer learning from a model originally trained for sex identification. The sex identification model was trained with 256,278 ECGs and subsequently finetuned for PLN detection (155 ECGs of patients with PLN) with two control groups: a balanced age/sex matched group and a randomly selected imbalanced population. The data was split in 10 folds and 20% of the training data was used for validation and early stopping. The models were evaluated with the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) of the testing data. We used gradient activation for explanation of the prediction models. The models trained with transfer learning outperformed the models trained from scratch for both the balanced (AUROC 0.87 vs AUROC 0.71) and imbalanced (AUROC 0.0.90 vs AUROC 0.65) population. The proposed approach was able to improve the accuracy of a rare disease detection model by transfer learning information from a non-manual annotated and abundant label with only limited data available., (Copyright © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: Stringent variant interpretation guidelines can lead to high rates of variants of uncertain significance (VUS) for genetically heterogeneous disease like long QT syndrome (LQTS) and Brugada syndrome (BrS). Quantitative and disease-specific customization of American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics/Association for Molecular Pathology (ACMG/AMP) guidelines can address this false negative rate., Methods: We compared rare variant frequencies from 1847 LQTS (KCNQ1/KCNH2/SCN5A) and 3335 BrS (SCN5A) cases from the International LQTS/BrS Genetics Consortia to population-specific gnomAD data and developed disease-specific criteria for ACMG/AMP evidence classes-rarity (PM2/BS1 rules) and case enrichment of individual (PS4) and domain-specific (PM1) variants., Results: Rare SCN5A variant prevalence differed between European (20.8%) and Japanese (8.9%) BrS patients (p = 5.7 × 10 -18 ) and diagnosis with spontaneous (28.7%) versus induced (15.8%) Brugada type 1 electrocardiogram (ECG) (p = 1.3 × 10 -13 ). Ion channel transmembrane regions and specific N-terminus (KCNH2) and C-terminus (KCNQ1/KCNH2) domains were characterized by high enrichment of case variants and >95% probability of pathogenicity. Applying the customized rules, 17.4% of European BrS and 74.8% of European LQTS cases had (likely) pathogenic variants, compared with estimated diagnostic yields (case excess over gnomAD) of 19.2%/82.1%, reducing VUS prevalence to close to background rare variant frequency., Conclusion: Large case-control data sets enable quantitative implementation of ACMG/AMP guidelines and increased sensitivity for inherited arrhythmia genetic testing.

Background: Phospholamban (PLN) p.Arg14del mutation carriers are known to develop dilated and/or arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy, and typical electrocardiographic (ECG) features have been identified for diagnosis. Machine learning is a powerful tool used in ECG analysis and has shown to outperform cardiologists., Objectives: We aimed to develop machine learning and deep learning models to diagnose PLN p.Arg14del cardiomyopathy using ECGs and evaluate their accuracy compared to an expert cardiologist., Methods: We included 155 adult PLN mutation carriers and 155 age- and sex-matched control subjects. Twenty-one PLN mutation carriers (13.4%) were classified as symptomatic (symptoms of heart failure or malignant ventricular arrhythmias). The data set was split into training and testing sets using 4-fold cross-validation. Multiple models were developed to discriminate between PLN mutation carriers and control subjects. For comparison, expert cardiologists classified the same data set. The best performing models were validated using an external PLN p.Arg14del mutation carrier data set from Murcia, Spain (n = 50). We applied occlusion maps to visualize the most contributing ECG regions., Results: In terms of specificity, expert cardiologists (0.99) outperformed all models (range 0.53-0.81). In terms of accuracy and sensitivity, experts (0.28 and 0.64) were outperformed by all models (sensitivity range 0.65-0.81). T-wave morphology was most important for classification of PLN p.Arg14del carriers. External validation showed comparable results, with the best model outperforming experts., Conclusion: This study shows that machine learning can outperform experienced cardiologists in the diagnosis of PLN p.Arg14del cardiomyopathy and suggests that the shape of the T wave is of added importance to this diagnosis., (Copyright © 2020 Heart Rhythm Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Mutations in SCN5A are rarely found in Thai patients with Brugada syndrome (BrS). Recent evidence suggested that common genetic variations may underlie BrS in a complex inheritance model., Objective: The purpose of this study was to find common and rare/low-frequency genetic variants predisposing to BrS in persons in Thailand., Methods: We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) to explore the association of common variants in 154 Thai BrS cases and 432 controls. We sequenced SCN5A in 131 cases and 205 controls. Variants were classified according to current guidelines, and case-control association testing was performed for rare and low-frequency variants., Results: Two loci were significantly associated with BrS. The first was near SCN5A/SCN10A (lead marker rs10428132; odds ratio [OR] 2.4; P = 3 × 10 -10 ). Conditional analysis identified a novel independent signal in the same locus (rs6767797; OR 2.3; P = 2.7 × 10 -10 ). The second locus was near HEY2 (lead marker rs3734634; OR 2.5; P = 7 × 10 -9 ). Rare (minor allele frequency [MAF] <0.0001) coding variants in SCN5A were found in 8 of the 131 cases (6.1% in cases vs 2.0% in controls; P = .046; OR 3.3; 95% confident interval [CI] 1.0-11.1), but an enrichment of low-frequency (MAF<0.001 and >0.0001) variants also was observed in cases, with 1 variant (SCN5A: p.Arg965Cys) detected in 4.6% of Thai BrS patients vs 0.5% in controls (P = 0.015; OR 9.8; 95% CI 1.2-82.3)., Conclusion: The genetic basis of BrS in Thailand includes a wide spectrum of variant frequencies and effect sizes. As previously shown in European and Japanese populations, common variants near SCN5A and HEY2 are associated with BrS in the Thai population, confirming the transethnic transferability of these 2 major BrS loci., (Copyright © 2020 Heart Rhythm Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Ventricular fibrillation in patients with Brugada syndrome (BrS) is often initiated by premature ventricular contractions (PVCs). Presence of SCN5A mutation increases the risk of PVCs upon exposure to sodium channel blockers (SCB) in patients with baseline type-1 ECG. In patients without baseline type-1 ECG, however, the effect of SCN5A mutation on the risk of SCB-induced arrhythmia is unknown. We aimed to establish whether presence/absence, type, and topology of SCN5A mutation correlates with PVC occurrence during ajmaline infusion., Methods and Results: We investigated 416 patients without baseline type-1 ECG who underwent ajmaline testing and SCN5A mutation analysis. A SCN5A mutation was identified in 88 patients (S + ). Ajmaline-induced PVCs occurred more often in patients with non-missense mutations (S non-missense ) or missense mutations in transmembrane or pore regions of SCN5A-encoded channel protein (S missense-TP ) than patients with missense mutations in intra-/extracellular channel regions (S missense-IE ) and patients without SCN5A mutation (S - ) (29%, 24%, 9%, and 3%, respectively; P<0.001). The proportion of patients with ajmaline-induced BrS was similar in different mutation groups but lower in S - (71% S non-missense , 63% S missense-TP , 70% S missense-IE , and 34% S - ; P<0.001). Logistic regression indicated S non-missense and S missense-TP as predictors of ajmaline-induced PVCs., Conclusions: SCN5A mutation is associated with an increased risk of drug-induced ventricular arrhythmia in patients without baseline type-1 ECG. In particular, S non-missense and S missense-TP are at high risk., (Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: In Brugada syndrome (BrS), spontaneous type 1 electrocardiogram (ECG) is an established risk marker for fatal arrhythmias whereas drug-induced type 1 ECG shows a relatively benign prognosis. No study has analyzed the prognosis of fever-induced type 1 ECG (F-type1) in a large BrS cohort., Objectives: The objectives of this study were to assess the prognosis of F-type1 in asymptomatic BrS and to compare the effects of fever and drugs on ECG parameters., Methods: One hundred twelve patients with BrS who developed F-type1 were retrospectively enrolled. Prognosis was evaluated in 88 asymptomatic patients. In a subgroup (n = 52), ECG parameters of multiple ECGs (at baseline, during fever, and after drug challenge) were analyzed., Results: Eighty-eight asymptomatic patients had a mean age of 45.8 ± 18.7 years, and 71.6% (67 of 88) were men. Twenty-one percent (18 of 88) had a family history of sudden cardiac death, and 26.4% (14 of 53) carried a pathogenic SCN5A mutation. Drug challenge was positive in 29 of 36 patients tested (80.6%). The risk of ventricular fibrillation in asymptomatic patients was 0.9%/y (3 of 88; 43.6 ± 37.4 months). ST-segment elevation in lead V2 during fever and after drug challenge was not significantly different (0.41 ± 0.21 ms during fever and 0.40 ± 0.30 ms after drug challenge; P > .05). Fever shortened the PR interval compared to baseline, whereas drug challenge resulted in prolonged PR interval and QRS duration (PR interval: 169 ± 29 ms at baseline, 148 ± 45 ms during fever, and 202 ± 35 ms after drug challenge; QRS duration: 97 ± 18 ms at baseline, 92 ± 28 ms during fever, and 117 ± 21 ms after drug challenge)., Conclusion: Patients with BrS who develop F-type1 are at risk of arrhythmic events. F-type1 appears to develop through a more complex mechanism as compared with drug-induced type 1 ECG., (Copyright © 2016 Heart Rhythm Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Cardiac electrical activity depends on the coordinated propagation of excitatory stimuli through the heart and, as a consequence, the generation of action potentials in individual cardiomyocytes. Action potential formation results from the opening and closing (gating) of ion channels that are expressed within the sarcolemma of cardiomyocytes. Ion channels possess distinct genetic, molecular, pharmacologic, and gating properties and exhibit dissimilar expression levels within different cardiac regions. By gating, ion channels permit ion currents across the sarcolemma, thereby creating the different phases of the action potential (e.g., resting phase, depolarization, repolarization). The importance of ion channels in maintaining normal heart rhythm is reflected by the increased incidence of arrhythmias in inherited diseases that are linked to mutations in genes encoding ion channels or their accessory proteins and in acquired diseases that are associated with changes in ion channel expression levels or gating properties. This review discusses ion channels that contribute to action potential formation in healthy hearts and their role in inherited and acquired diseases.

Background: Worldwide, the Brugada syndrome has been recognized as an important cause of sudden cardiac death in individuals at a relatively young age. Importantly, many drugs have been reported to induce the characteristic Brugada syndrome-linked ECG abnormalities and/or (fatal) ventricular tachyarrhythmias., Objective: The purpose of this study was to review the literature on the use of drugs in Brugada syndrome patients, to make recommendations based on the literature and on expert opinion regarding drug safety, and to ensure worldwide online and up-to-date availability of this information to all physicians who treat Brugada syndrome patients., Methods: We performed an extensive review of the literature, formed an international expert panel to produce a consensus recommendation to each drug, and initiated a website (www.brugadadrugs.org)., Results: The literature search yielded 506 reports for consideration. Drugs were categorized into one of four categories: (1) drugs to be avoided (n = 18); (2) drugs preferably avoided (n = 23); (3) antiarrhythmic drugs (n = 4); and (4) diagnostic drugs (n = 4). Level of evidence for most associations was C (only consensus opinion of experts, case studies, or standard-of-care) as there are no randomized studies and few nonrandomized studies in Brugada syndrome patients., Conclusion: Many drugs have been associated with adverse events in Brugada syndrome patients. We have initiated a website (www.brugadadrugs.org) to ensure worldwide availability of information on safe drug use in Brugada syndrome patients.

Background: Inherited arrhythmias may underlie intrauterine and neonatal arrhythmias. Resolving the molecular genetic nature of these rare cases provides significant insight into the role of the affected proteins in arrhythmogenesis and (extra-) cardiac development., Objective: The purpose of this study was to perform clinical, molecular, and functional studies of a consanguineous Arabian family with repeated early miscarriages and two intrauterine fetal losses in the early part of the third trimester of pregnancy due to persistent arrhythmias., Methods: In-depth clinical investigation was performed in two siblings, both of whom developed severe arrhythmia during the second trimester of pregnancy. Homozygosity mapping with microsatellite repeat polymorphic markers encompassing various cardiac ion channel genes linked to electrical instability of the heart was performed. Screening of the candidate gene in the homozygous locus was performed. Biochemical and electrophysiologic analysis was performed to elucidate the function of the mutated gene., Results: Screening of the HERG gene in the homozygous locus detected a homozygous nonsense mutation Q1070X in the HERG C-terminus in affected children. Biochemical and functional analysis of the Q1070X mutant showed that although the mutant HERG had the ability to traffic to the plasma membrane and to form functional channels, it was destroyed by the nonsense-mediated decay (NMD) pathway before its translation. NMD leads to near absence of HERG in homozygous Q1070X mutation carriers, causing debilitating arrhythmias (prior to birth) in homozygous carriers but no apparent phenotype in heterozygous carriers., Conclusion: Homozygous HERG Q1070X is equivalent to near functional knockout of HERG. Clinical consequences appear early, originating during the early stages of embryonic life. The NMD pathway renders HERG Q1070X functionless before it can form a functional ion channel.