Publications by authors named "Megan C Lancaster"

Article Synopsis
  • TTN encodes the protein titin and is commonly associated with rare variants in patients diagnosed with atrial fibrillation (AF) during genetic testing.
  • The study compared characteristics and outcomes of patients with AF having pathogenic TTN variants to those without such variants, revealing that TTN(+) patients experience more persistent AF and require more cardioversions.
  • Findings indicate that nearly 50% of TTN(+) AF patients develop serious heart issues, emphasizing the importance of specialized evaluation and management for these individuals.
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Background: Long QT syndrome is a lethal arrhythmia syndrome, frequently caused by rare loss-of-function variants in the potassium channel encoded by . Variant classification is difficult, often because of lack of functional data. Moreover, variant-based risk stratification is also complicated by heterogenous clinical data and incomplete penetrance.

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Article Synopsis
  • Rare genetic diseases like Type 5 Long QT Syndrome (LQT5) are often underdiagnosed due to limited studies in referral populations, leading to skewed insights into these conditions.
  • A new method was developed to identify undiagnosed LQT5 carriers in a broader population, leading to the discovery of 22 additional individuals sharing a specific genetic variant linked to LQT5.
  • The analysis revealed that both referred and non-referred carriers have a prolonged QT interval, and a specific polygenic score can predict QT prolongation among those with the variant, enhancing the understanding of LQT5's impact.
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Background: Computational variant effect predictors offer a scalable and increasingly reliable means of interpreting human genetic variation, but concerns of circularity and bias have limited previous methods for evaluating and comparing predictors. Population-level cohorts of genotyped and phenotyped participants that have not been used in predictor training can facilitate an unbiased benchmarking of available methods. Using a curated set of human gene-trait associations with a reported rare-variant burden association, we evaluate the correlations of 24 computational variant effect predictors with associated human traits in the UK Biobank and All of Us cohorts.

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Background: We identified a novel variant, E171Q, in a neonate with very frequent ectopy and reduced ejection fraction which normalized after arrhythmia suppression by flecainide. This clinical picture is consistent with multifocal ectopic Purkinje-related premature contractions (MEPPC). Most previous reports of MEPPC have implicated variants such as R222Q that neutralize positive charges in the S4 voltage sensor helix of the channel protein Na1.

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Rare genetic diseases are typically studied in referral populations, resulting in underdiagnosis and biased assessment of penetrance and phenotype. To address this, we developed a generalizable method of genotype inference based on distant relatedness and deployed this to identify undiagnosed Type 5 Long QT Syndrome (LQT5) rare variant carriers in a non-referral population. We identified 9 LQT5 families referred to a single specialty clinic, each carrying p.

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Importance: The diagnosis and study of rare genetic disease is often limited to referral populations, leading to underdiagnosis and a biased assessment of penetrance and phenotype.

Objective: To develop a generalizable method of genotype inference based on distant relatedness and to deploy this to identify undiagnosed Type 5 Long QT Syndrome (LQT5) rare variant carriers in a non-referral population.

Participants: We identified 9 LQT5 probands and 3 first-degree relatives referred to a single Genetic Arrhythmia clinic, each carrying D76N (p.

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Introduction: BNP elevation in patients with AF is observed in the absence of heart failure; however, prior mechanistic studies have not included direct left atrial pressure measurements. This study sought to understand how emptying function of the left atrial appendage (LAA) and LAA dimension contributes to brain-natriuretic peptide elevations (BNP) in atrial fibrillation (AF) accounting for left atrial pressure (LAP).

Methods: 132 patients referredfor left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO) were prospectively enrolled in this study.

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There is increasing evidence regarding the prevalence of genetic cardiomyopathies, for which arrhythmias may be the first presentation. Ventricular and atrial arrhythmias presenting in the absence of known myocardial disease are often labelled as idiopathic, or lone. While ventricular arrhythmias are well-recognized as presentation for arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy in the right ventricle, the scope of arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy has broadened to include those with dominant left ventricular involvement, usually with a phenotype of dilated cardiomyopathy.

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Objectives: This study sought to explore the natural clustering of echocardiographic variables used for assessing left ventricular (LV) diastolic dysfunction (DD) in order to isolate high-risk phenotypic patterns and assess their prognostic significance.

Background: Assessment of LV DD is important in the management and prognosis of cardiovascular diseases. Data-driven approaches such as cluster analysis may be useful in segregating similar cases without the constraint of an a priori algorithm for risk stratification.

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