Clinical Approach to Sudden Cardiac Death Syndromes

Clinical cardiologists are encountering an important challenge in the care of families with inherited cardiac diseases. The majority of the inherited cardiac diseases causing sudden death express themselves at variable ages in the form of altered muscle function – for instance hypertrophic or dilated cardiomyopathy – or in the form of arrhythmias, including Brugada syndrome and long QT syndrome. Clinical and genetic research is continuously ongoing not only to identify those at risk but also to better define their level of risk. Deciding on the most appropriate clinical tests is a challenge in inherited diseases. It is in this situation that specialized clinical-genetic clinics have appeared to provide a complete assessment of patients and family members. The clinicians in the community, faced with a growing number of questions and doubts in the caring of these individuals, are increasingly using the expertise of these centers to address the clinical decisions in their patients.

Clinical Approach to Sudden Cardiac Death Syndromes details the main guidelines to clinicians on how to approach the patients and family members with an inherited disease. It also includes an in-depth review of what is currently available to assist in the diagnosis, prevention and risk stratification in sudden cardiac death. This book is therefore an essential reference for all cardiologists and electrophysiologists, but also this will be important reading for general practice physicians who may be responsible for the identification of families at risk.


Part A: Familial diseases: (The following issues will be explained in each chapter): Clinical Description of the Disease.- Risk stratification parameters.- Therapeutic approach to the disease.- Genetic basis.- Role of genetics in diagnosis and risk stratification.- Clinical approach to the non-penetrant carrier of the disease.- Approach to the family with no mutation identified.- Approach to children.- Approach to adults beyond the age of normal presentation of the disease.- Prevention (medications to avoid, exercise limitations, etc).- Part B: Non-familial sudden cardiac death.- Part C: Ethical-legal implications in genetic diagnosis, especially insurance and professional implications for individuals who are non-penetrant carriers