Sudden unexplained death: evaluation of those left behind

Postmortem Long QT Syndrome Genetic Testing for Sudden Unexplained Death in the Young

“…In addition, a targeted analysis of 10 ANK2 exons implicated in LQT4 and a mutation-specific analysis for TS1 (LQT8) involving CACNA1C were also conducted (23). Primers, polymerase chain reaction, and denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography conditions for mutation analysis are available on request.…”

“…As such, LQTS may represent an arrhythmogenic disorder able to escape suspicion, detection, and apprehension by either a standard medicolegal autopsy or a careful evaluation of those surviving first-degree and second-degree relatives left behind (22,23). Here, in our cohort of 49 medical examiner/coroner-referred cases of SUD, we now focus on these LQTS susceptibility genes as candidate genes responsible for SUD.…”

Sudden and unexpected deaths in an adult population, Cape Town, South Africa, 2001-2005

“…It has been stressed 15,16 that feedback regarding the cause of death should be given to relatives, especially where the cause of death could impact on the health of the surviving relatives and close contacts. The prevalence of ischaemic heart disease, pulmonary TB and infectious diseases of the central nervous system was high in this study.…”

The Molecular Autopsy: Should the Evaluation Continue After the Funeral?

“…Given their lethal and unsuspecting nature, LQTS, CPVT, and BrS represent ideal arrhythmogenic assassins able to escape suspicion, detection, and apprehension by a standard medicolegal autopsy [11, 42]. Because of the potentially devastating impact that these inheritable genetic disorders can have on living family members, the proper and thorough evaluation of an SUD is paramount.…”