2017 Riley Heart Center Symposium on Cardiac Development: Development and Repair of the Ventricular Wall

Excerpt

Abnormal heart morphogenesis can result in congenital heart defects (CHDs) or inherited cardiomyopathies. Inappropriate gene expression [1, 2], expression of mutant gene products [3, 4], and exposure to cardiotoxic chemicals [5] or drugs [6] are all known to promote CHDs. The resulting structural defects (exemplified by heterotaxy, atrial and ventricular septal defects, noncompaction, etc.) render heart pump function inadequate. Nearly 1% of all newborns will have a structural heart defect [7], and the majority of these are severe enough to cause death in the absence of surgical and/or other palliative intervention. Inherited cardiomyopathies (that is, abnormalities of the sarcomere) [8, 9] constitute another important class of CHDs. …