Familial occurrence in cardiovascular diseases. Familial cardiovascular diseases (1)

Current knowledge and assumptions about inherited cardiovascular diseases are reported in this review. They are examined from two different points of view. In the first section (familial cardiovascular diseases) discussion will center on the main cardiovascular diseases that have a definite clinical and pathophysiological feature in which familial occurrence has been extensively demonstrated. The genetic aspects of the primary cardiomyopathies, mitral valve prolapse, arrhythmias and conduction disturbances, long QT syndromes and abnormalities of ventricular repolarization, cardiovascular malformations, coronary artery disease, essential hypertension and rheumatic fever will be examined. In the second section (cardiovascular involvement in genetic disorders) discussion will be confined to the inherited multisystem disorders involving the cardiovascular system that most frequently occur in clinical practice. Currently known cardiovascular findings in relationship to chromosomal aberrations, connective tissue disorders, metabolic and enzymatic disorders, neuromuscular disorders and other rarer syndromes will be reported.