A silent cardiac killer - putting the pieces of the puzzle together.

Imagine a 12 year old boy happily playing soccer one minute, then out of the blue has a severe attack, loses consciousness and dies. Or, he is sleeping or resting and the same thing happens.

Many sudden, unexplained deaths like these are thought to be caused by a genetic mutation which creates an extremely rapid heart rhythm. Each year we lose around 40 babies and young children to a condition known as ‘Sudden Death’ which is as least as common as childhood Leukaemia. Researchers now believe many of these deaths are due to a heart condition called Long QT Syndrome – and through detection, these deaths can be quite easily prevented Cure Kids is currently funding promising research by Paediatric Cardiologist, Dr Jon Skinner and his team at Starship and Auckland City Hospital. In association with other cardiac experts this team has developed genetic tests that identify gene mutation carriers. Now that some gene abnormalities have been recognised they aim to explore this further and isolate whether or not this is the key to unlocking the puzzle over many tragic Sudden Deaths. The really amazing thing about this research is that, once gene carriers are identified it becomes relatively simple to introduce medications and treatments which will prevent attacks and save many lives each year.

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