Cardiac Inherited Disease Research We are currently involved in developing the molecular analysis for Long-QT syndrome, an inherited arrhythmia disorder that may lead to sudden cardiac death due to mutations in K+ and Na+ ion channel subunits. Long QT is associated with a disturbed heartbeat rhythm and people who have the syndrome often have fainting episodes due to the decreased supply of oxygenated blood to the brain. In some cases seizures, cardiac arrest and death follows.

This project was set up in collaboration with Professor Mark Rees (Molecular Neuroscience Group, University of Swansea Medical School), Dr Jon Skinner, and Ms Jackie Crawford (Cardiology Department, Auckland District Health Board), and the group is known as The Cardiac Inherited Disease Group (CIDG). CIDG is a New Zealand national multidisciplinary group made up of specialist cardiologists, molecular and clinical geneticists, pathologists, and genetic counsellors and associated professional staff whose main aim is to prevent unnecessary sudden cardiac death in the young.

The Cardiac Inherited Disease Group

We are currently studying the genes involved in Long-QT in New Zealand patients, and also trying to determine whether these mutations may also play a role in sudden death syndromes. This project is funded by CureKids.