Heritable Cardiac Conduction and Myocardial Disease: From the Clinic to the Basic Science Laboratory and Back to the Clinic

A close collaboration between the physicians-scientists of the Division of Cardiology, The Ohio State University and the basic scientists of the Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School was essential to define the multiple phenotypic expressions and the genetic abnormalities in the heritable conduction and myocardial disease in a family from central Ohio (Family OSU). The Family OSU presents evidence of sequential hierarchical progression through multiple cardiac phenotypes (sinus bradycardia, atrioventricular conduction defects requiring pacemaker, supraventricular arrhythmias including atrial fibrillation, heart failure, and sudden cardiac death) on a decade-to-decade basis. In this setting, each phenotype may be mistakenly considered as a specific diagnosis by physicians working without a pedigree or long-term follow-up. Genetic analysis, however, confirms lamin A/C mutation. The role of the physician-scientist and the basic scientist for the study of heritable disorders is equally important but different. Only the physician-scientist, however, Received: March 4, 2011 Accepted: April 13, 2011 Published online: June 17, 2011 Prof. Harisios Boudoulas Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens Soranou Ephessiou Str. 4 GR–11527 Athens (Greece) E-Mail boudoulas @ bioacademy.gr © 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel 0008–6312/11/1183–0179$38.00/0 Accessible online at: www.karger.com/crd D ow nl oa de d by : 54 .7 0. 40 .1 1 11 /2 3/ 20 17 1 1: 51 :0 5 P M