Sudden cardiac death: from molecular biology and cellular electrophysiology to therapy.
Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is one of the most serious problems of clinical cardiology and public health, because of its unexpected and sudden occurrence and poor response to resuscitation. Until recently, the many cases of SCD, apart from those caused by coronary heart diseases (CHD), were unexplained. Advances in methodology, especially molecular biology techniques and cellular electrophysiology, ie, patch clamp technique, revealed several mutations of sodium and potassium cardiac ion channels as a background for serious arrhythmia and consequently SCD in cases earlier determined as idiopathic ventricular fibrillation.
Department of Pharmacology, Medical University of Gdańsk, Poland. ikocic@amedec.amg.gda.pl
Ivan
I
Kocić
D000818:Animals; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016757:Death, Sudden, Cardiac / Q000517:prevention & control; D004594:Electrophysiology; D006801:Humans; D007473:Ion Channels / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008967:Molecular Biology
D007473:Ion Channels