You'll Heart our Updated Cardiology Panels
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We are pleased to offer three new cardiology testing panels. Our comprehensive cardiology and pan cardiomyopathy panels are designed to cover a large number of inherited cardiac disorders, while the sudden cardiac arrest panel focuses on genes known to heighten risk for sudden cardiac arrest (SCA). In addition, we’ve increased the number of genes tested in many of our other panels to increase clinical sensitivity.
Inherited heart diseases are phenotypically and genetically heterogeneous and impair either the function or structure of the heart or both. The comprehensive cardiology panel tests 164 genes. It can detect a variety of heart diseases, broadly classified as cardiac arrhythmias and cardiomyopathies. Due to the number of genes tested, the clinical sensitivity of the panel varies depending on disease type.
Cardiac Arrhythmias and Cardiomyopathies
Cardiac arrhythmias are characterized by an irregular heartbeat, while cardiomyopathies are defined as disorders of the heart muscle. Both can be passed on through multiple modes of inheritance. Most cardiac-related genes are associated with autosomal dominant disorders, but others are inherited in an autosomal recessive or X-linked fashion. Charron et al. suggested that a pan cardiomyopathy panel could help with differential diagnosis and prognostic stratification for patients with cardiomyopathies. Therapeutic options are available to delay or prevent disease progression, making early detection critical even in asymptomatic individuals (Charron et al. 2010). PreventionGenetics offers testing for cardiomyopathies in the new 82-gene Pan Cardiomyopathy Panel, or specific disorders may be tested individually. The Dilated Cardiomyopathy and Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Panels have been recently updated and now include 47 and 38 genes, respectively. PreventionGenetics also offers a separate test for arrhythmia disorders with the Comprehensive Cardiac Arrhythmia Panel.
Sudden Cardiac Arrest
Although most SCA cases (70% to 80%) are attributed to coronary heart disease, 10% to 15% are associated with nonischemic cardiomyopathy disease, and approximately 5% are caused by arrhythmic disorders with no structural heart defects (Chugh et al. 2008). For individuals with a family history of SCA, genetic testing can be a vital part of assessing risk and determining if preventive measures to lower the likelihood of SCA should be taken (Refaat et al. 2015). The Sudden Cardiac Arrest panel offered by PreventionGenetics tests 49 genes related to experiencing a higher genetic risk of SCA. The panel has a clinical sensitivity of 10% to 30%, depending on family history and the associated cardiac disorder phenotype (Hertz et al. 2015; McGorrian et al. 2013).
Cardiology Testing at PreventionGenetics
PreventionGenetics offers a comprehensive menu of cardiac-related panels:
View all of our tests for Cardiovascular Disorders.
Getting the test right is at the heart of what we do. Read more about the quality and distinguishing features of PreventionGenetics.
References
Charron, P. et al. 2010. European Heart Journal. 31: 2715-26. PubMed ID: 20823110
Chugh S.S. et al. 2008. Progress in Cardiovasuclar Diseases. 51: 213-28. PubMed ID: 19026856
Hertz C. L. et al. 2015 Europace. 17: 350-7. PubMed ID: 25345827
McGorrian C. et al. 2013. Europace. 15: 1050-8. PubMed ID: 23382499
Refaat M.M. 2015. Current Cardiology Reports. 17: 606. PubMed ID: 26026997