Long QT Syndrome News and Research

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Long QT syndrome (LQTS) is a disease that affects the normal heart rhythm and electrical activity. It may lead to sudden onset and dangerous arrhythmias (irregularities of heart rate and rhythm) which may be brought on by triggers like exercise or stress.

ClinGen expert panel disputes nine genes linked to long QT syndrome

Geneticists and heart specialists around the world had previously reported 17 genes to cause long QT syndrome, a little-known inherited heart condition. However, the Clinical Genome Resource's expert panel has critically reevaluated the scientific evidence for all 17 reported genes, disputing nine of the genes and revealing only three of the genes to be definitively associated with the most common form of the disease.

27 Jan 2020

Neuronal gene mutations may be linked to seizures associated with Long QT Syndrome

Researchers identified a gene in fruit flies that helps prevent the hyperexcitability of specific neurons that trigger seizures. In humans, mutations in the gene may be linked to seizures associated with Long QT Syndrome.

From PLOS ONE 13 Aug 2019

Neuronal gene malfunction is behind seizures associated with long QT syndrome, study suggests

Most people with a medical condition called long QT syndrome have a mutation in a gene that causes bouts of fast, chaotic heartbeats.

9 Aug 2019

Energy drinks may increase blood pressure and risk of electrical disturbances in heart

Drinking 32 ounces of an energy drink in a short timespan may increase blood pressure and the risk of electrical disturbances in the heart, which affect heart rhythm, according to a small study published in Journal of the American Heart Association, the Open Access Journal of the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.

29 May 2019

Study confirms QT-prolonging effects of grapefruit juice

Grapefruit juice is already listed as a substance to avoid when taking QT-prolonging medications because it increases the toxicity of many drugs.

9 May 2019

New collaboration aims to prevent life-threatening adverse reactions to medications

The University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix and Banner Health are collaborating to prevent life-threatening adverse reactions to medications.

27 Feb 2019

WU biomedical engineer makes a significant step toward precision medicine

In 2015, then President Barack Obama launched a precision medicine initiative, saying that its promise was "delivering the right treatments, at the right time, every time to the right person.

20 Dec 2018

FDA approves LORBRENA for treatment of patients with ALK-positive metastatic NSCLC

Pfizer Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved LORBRENA, a third-generation anaplastic lymphoma kinase tyrosine kinase inhibitor for patients with ALK-positive metastatic non-small cell lung cancer whose disease has progressed on crizotinib and at least one other ALK inhibitor for metastatic disease; or whose disease has progressed on alectinib or ceritinib as the first ALK inhibitor therapy for metastatic disease.

5 Nov 2018

Scientists figure out way to measure fetal cardiac electrical activity

Electrodes are placed on the patient's chest area to record cardiac electrical activity - e.g. to determine whether the heart rhythm is so irregular that treatment is required; a type of medical examination for which ECG serves well as a diagnostic tool.

2 Nov 2018

Pfizer announces FDA approval of VIZIMPRO for first-line treatment of EGFR-mutated metastatic NSCLC

Pfizer Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved VIZIMPRO [vih-ZIM-pro] (dacomitinib), a kinase inhibitor for the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer with epidermal growth factor receptor exon 19 deletion or exon 21 L858R substitution mutations as detected by an FDA-approved test.

28 Sep 2018

VTCRI scientist receives new federal grant for research into a heart mutation

Steven Poelzing, an associate professor at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, has received a new five-year grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health.

7 Sep 2018

FDA accepts Bristol-Myers Squibb’s application for Sprycel for treating pediatric leukemia

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration accepted its supplemental Biologics License Application for Sprycel (dasatinib) in combination with chemotherapy for the treatment of pediatric patients with newly diagnosed Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

30 Aug 2018

Combining stem cell technology and artificial intelligence to diagnose genetic cardiac diseases

A new study by Professors Martti Juhola and Katriina Aalto-Setälä of the University of Tampere in Finland demonstrates that with the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning, it is possible not only to accurately sort sick cardiac cell cultures from healthy ones, but also to differentiate between genetic cardiac diseases.

20 Jun 2018

Genomic science can help healthcare professionals to identify, treat inherited cardiac conditions

The family history questions asked during patient assessments are becoming even more important with the rise of precision medicine and genetic testing.

11 May 2018

Genetic heart mutations account for fewer sudden and unexplained infant deaths

Researchers have discovered that heart disease caused by genetic mutations account for significantly fewer sudden and unexplained deaths of infants than previously reported.

13 Mar 2018

FDA approves expanded use of Zykadia for first-line treatment of ALK-positive metastatic NSCLC

Novartis today announced the US Food and Drug Administration approved the expanded use of Zykadia (ceritinib) to include the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors are anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive, as detected by an FDA-approved test.

27 May 2017

Energy drinks linked to risk of cardiac events in young people with familial long QT syndrome

Caffeinated energy drinks can trigger serious cardiac events including cardiac arrest in individuals not known to have a specific heart disease of genetic origin.

8 May 2017

FDA grants approval for first drug to treat adults with tardive dyskinesia

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Ingrezza (valbenazine) capsules to treat adults with tardive dyskinesia. This is the first drug approved by the FDA for this condition.

11 Apr 2017

New report reveals optimal way to detect young athletes at risk of sudden cardiac death

Although rare, sudden cardiac death in young athletes raises serious concerns, especially because most victims report no warning symptoms. Pre-participation screening aims to identify children, adolescents, and young adults at risk, but there is not yet consensus regarding the best way to accomplish this.

30 Sep 2016

Heart specialists to examine benefit of ECG screening for student athletes

UT Southwestern Medical Center heart specialists will study whether electrocardiograms (ECGs) are useful in identifying Texas high school student athletes who are at risk of suffering sudden cardiac death.

7 Sep 2016