Genetics and cardiovascular disease--causes and prevention of unexpected sudden adult death: the role of the SADS clinic

Sudden arrhythmic death syndrome (SADS) accounts for approximately 500 deaths in England and Wales per year. Clinical screening of the surviving first-degree relatives can identify an inherited cardiovascular condition in up to half of families, permitting lifestyle modification and confirmed effective prophylactic therapies to prevent further sudden deaths. Mechanisms for molecular autopsy are available to improve the diagnostic yield but practical barriers to its successful implementation exist. This article reviews the clinical screening of the first-degree relatives of SADS patients, molecular autopsy of probands and the broader implications of national recommendations for the investigation of sudden cardiac death.