Genetics of cardiomyopathiesin children

Cardiomyopathies are diseases of the heart muscle leading to heart failure and/or an increased risk of arrhythmogenic sudden car-diac death. These disorders represent a major cause of morbidity and mortality in children. In childhood forms of cardiomyopathy, genetic etiologies are frequent, but non-genetic or acquired causes, such viral infection, also play a significant role. In the last twenty years, the genetic causes of cardiomyopathies have been increasingly identified and clinical correla-tions are beginning to be defined. Here we present an overview of the recent advances in our understanding of the genetics of cardiomy-opathies in children and what is known about the pathophysiological mechanisms underly-ing these gene-related forms of disease