Skip to content
Home page - Centenary Institute Centenary Institute

Primary menu

  • Research
        • Research

          The latest medical research into our most complex health challenges across cancer, cardiovascular disease and inflammation

          Learn more

        • Cancer
        • Inflammation
        • Cardiovascular
        • Programs
        • Laboratories
        • Diseases
        • Expertises
        • Services and instrumentation
  • Support us
        • Support us

          By supporting the Centenary Institute you can help improve human health through excellence in medical research

          Learn more

        • Workplace giving
        • Host or join a fundraiser
        • Gift in your will
        • Donate in Memory
  • Impact
        • Impact

          Our research develops new diagnostics, treatments and cures for some of the most deadly and debilitating diseases affecting society today

          Learn more

        • Breakthroughs
        • Community and research
  • Careers & studies
        • Careers & Studies

          Take the next step in your career with Centenary, Australia’s foremost clinically integrated medical research institute

          Learn more

        • Career opportunities
        • Life at Centenary
        • Post-Doctorate Research
        • PhD
        • Masters
        • Honours
  • News & events
        • News & Events

          Explore the latest research breakthroughs and ways you can take part in our series of digital and in-person events

        • News
        • Events
        • Media Hub
  • About us
        • About us

          We are world-leading independent medical research institute that drives collaboration to accelerate and translate solutions to our most complex health challenges

          Learn more

        • Governance
        • Corporate information
        • Annual reports
        • Our researchers
        • Contact
  • Donate
    Centenary Institute > News > Concealed cardiomyopathies revealed in cardiac arrest survivors

Concealed cardiomyopathies revealed in cardiac arrest survivors

Date time 28 September, 2020
News Type News type Media release
Centenary Institute researchers have discovered that genetic testing can identify ‘concealed cardiomyopathies’ in nearly a quarter of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) survivors who seem to have a normal heart.

Centenary Institute researchers have discovered that genetic testing can identify ‘concealed cardiomyopathies’ in nearly a quarter of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) survivors who seem to have a normal heart.

The findings will mean improved diagnosis rates and personalised care for SCA survivors as well as guide the screening of family members who may have the same underlying genetic condition.

The study, reported in the ‘International Journal of Cardiology’, undertook genetic testing and analysis of clinically-idiopathic SCA survivors (individuals where previous clinical investigations had failed to reveal a diagnosis).

The researchers identified a genetic cause of arrest in 22% of the SCA survivors studied. The majority of these newly identified cases had genetic abnormalities associated with cardiomyopathy.

“Cardiomyopathies are diseases of heart muscle. They can impair the heart’s ability to pump blood around the body, leading to heart failure but can also cause electrical changes which can lead to dangerous heart rhythms,” said lead author of the study, Dr Julia Isbister from the Centenary Institute’s Agnes Ginges Centre for Molecular Cardiology.

“These conditions are usually detected on clinical tests such as ultrasound but our findings show that state-of-the-art genetic testing may be useful in revealing cardiomyopathy before structural abnormalities are evident.”

Dr Isbister says that identifying the reason for a SCA is critical for both patients and their families.

“If the specific disease can be diagnosed we are better able to implement personalised care for the survivor. If we discover that the SCA is genetically-based we can then screen family members for similar issues. Screening of first-degree relatives is an extremely important aspect of caring for SCA families, aiming to reduce the risk of further cardiac arrests in the family,” said Dr Isbister.

Professor Christopher Semsarian AM, Head of the Centenary Institute’s Agnes Ginges Centre for Molecular Cardiology and senior author on the study says that the role of genetic testing in the management of SCA survivors requires reappraisal given the results of the team’s findings.

“Current guidelines recommend only limited genetic testing of SCA survivors when a specific genetic condition is already suspected. Genetic testing is not generally recommended for those survivors classified as clinically ‘unknown’,” he said.

“Our study has shown that advances in genetic testing technology and analysis can improve diagnosis rates by revealing heart defects that were previously hidden. A reassessment of guidelines and increased genetic testing may lead to better outcomes for survivors, their families and overall prevention of sudden cardiac death in the young.”

Publication: “Concealed cardiomyopathy” as a cause of previously unexplained sudden cardiac arrest.

Themes

  • Cardiovascular

    Cardiovascular

Media enquires

For all media and interview enquiries, please contact Tony Crawshaw, Media and Communications Manager

Phone number Phone Number 0402 770 403

Email Email t.crawshaw@centenary.org.au

Media Release

Download

Recent Stories

  • New drug target identified for inflammatory lung disease

    Researchers at the Centenary Institute and the University of Technology Sydney have identified a new drug target for the treatment and prevention of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), an inflammatory lung disease that causes airway blockage and that makes it difficult to breathe.
    News Type: Media release
    Date 04 Jul 2022
  • Inflammation presentation awarded

    Dr Joyce Chiu from the ACRF Centenary Cancer Research Centre has won an Oral Communication Award for her talk given at the 15th World Congress on Inflammation, held in Rome, June 2022.
    News Type: Research News
    Date 01 Jul 2022
  • Meet Dr Annalicia Vaughan

    A medical researcher at the Centenary UTS Centre for Inflammation, Dr Annalicia Vaughan specialises in the gut-lung axis and its role in lung and respiratory diseases.
    News Type: Profiles
    Date 28 Jun 2022
    Dr Vaughan
  • The Centenary Institute is excited to join the Sydney Biomedical Accelerator (SBA) as primary medical research partner

    The Centenary Institute welcomes the NSW Government’s commitment to fund a new biomedical complex in Camperdown. The Chair of the Centenary Institute Board, Joseph Carrozzi AM, and its Executive Director, Professor Mathew Vadas AO, are thrilled that a biomedical complex, the Sydney Biomedical Accelerator (SBA), will now be a reality.
    News Type: Media release
    Date 17 Jun 2022

Subscribe to receive news on
research updates and free events

Newsletter

The Centenary Institute is a world-leading independent Medical Research Institute.

We acknowledge the Gadigal of the Eora Nation, the traditional custodians of the Country on which the Centenary Institute stands.

About

  • About
  • Governance
  • Corporate information

Research

  • Programs
  • Laboratories
  • Our researchers
  • News
  • Media hub

Careers & studies

  • Career opportunities
  • Life at Centenary

Links

  • Contact
  • Privacy statement

Contact us

Building 93, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital
Missenden Rd
Camperdown NSW 2050 Australia
Telephone +61 2 9565 6100
Fax +61 2 9565 6101

Centenary Institute ABN 22 654 201 090 (DGR 1) • Centenary Institute Medical Research Foundation ABN 85 778 244 012 (DGR 2)
© 2017 Centenary Institute of Cancer Medicine and Cell Biology.

  • Linkedin
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Youtube
  • Instagram