The Most Common Cause of Sudden Cardiac Death in Athletes: Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy-Associated Genes and Mutations

Abstract

The term of Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD) is a special situation occurred when a person dies suddenly and unexpectedly from cardiovascular diseases. Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM), coronary artery abnormalities, myocarditis, arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia, ion channel defects and aortic stenosis can all cause etiopathogenesis of SCD. The most common reason of sudden death in athletes is Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM) which caused by mutations in genes encoding sarcomeric proteins. Here, we review the genetic basis of sudden cardiac death with a focus on the current knowledge on the genetics of the HCM by mutations in genes.