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How to develop a clinic for sudden cardiac arrest survivors and families of non-survivors

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 January 2017

Dominic J. Abrams
Dominic J. Abrams*
Affiliation:
Inherited Cardiac Arrhythmia Program & Division of Cardiac Electrophysiology, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
*
Correspondence to: D. J. Abrams, MD, MRCP, Inherited Cardiac Arrhythmia Program & Division of Cardiac Electrophysiology, Boston Children’s Hospital, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, United States of America. E-mail: dominic.abrams@cardio.chboston.org
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Abstract

The investigation of the aetiology of sudden cardiac arrest or death in a young person combines features of a traditional clinical medical examination with those of forensic medicine. Nuances of the immediate peri-event history, when available, can be paramount. New genetic tools have greatly improved the yield of such investigations, but they must be carefully interpreted by genetic specialists. The approach to surviving patients, their family members, and to family members of non-survivors is best achieved in a structured programme that includes all appropriate specialists and support personnel. As an example, this may include all appropriate paediatric and internal medicine specialists, a geneticist, a genetic counsellor, a clinical psychologist, nurse specialist(s), and a programme coordinator. This family-centred strategy affords the patient, if surviving, and all family members the necessary emotional and medical support while at the same time providing the necessary diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.

Keywords

Sudden cardiac deathsudden cardiac arrestgenetic testingchannelopathycardiomyopathy

Information

Type
Original Articles
Information
Cardiology in the Young , Volume 27 , Supplement S1: Sudden Cardiac Arrest in the Young: A Contemporary Perspective , January 2017 , pp. S3 - S9
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2017 

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