Prevalence of Sarcomere Protein Gene Mutations in Preadolescent Children With Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

This study shows that familial disease is common among infants and children with HCM and that, in most cases, disease is caused by mutations in cardiac sarcomere protein genes. The major implication is that all first-degree relatives of any child diagnosed with HCM should be offered screening. Furthermore, the finding that one sixth of patients with sarcomeric disease were diagnosed in infancy suggests that current views on pathogenesis and natural history of familial HCM may have to be revised.