Mayo Clinic Researchers Discover Genetic Glitch In The Heart's Electrical System

Mayo Clinic researchers have identified defects in a second gene called RyR2 that causes malfunctions in the heart's electrical system and contributes to what were previously unexplained drownings. Mayo researchers first discovered defects in a gene that causes the heart's electrical system to malfunction and described how it might cause a drowning of an otherwise healthy person and reported their findings in a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1999. The newest findings are described in the current issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings. In the newest study, Mayo researchers conducted sleuthlike molecular autopsies or postmortem genetic testing on coroners' cases of unexplained and unexpected drownings that were referred to the Sudden Death Genomics Laboratory at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.