Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a disease of the heart muscle that results in decreased function of the left ventricle, the main pumping chamber. This decreases the heart’s ability to pump blood, which can lead to irregular heartbeats (arrhythmias), blood clots, heart failure, or sudden cardiac death. While there are several contributing factors to the development of DCM, it is known that up to one-third inherit it from their parents: familial DCM. Familial DCM is known to be caused by changes in different genes, the most common being variants (mutations) in the gene that encodes what is known as lamin A and C (LMNA); DCM caused by these variants is usually referred to as cardiolaminopathies. Although LMNA-associated DCM (or cardiolaminopathy) accounts for 6% of all familial cases, there are no targeted drug to prevent onset or progression of the disease, and the mechanisms that result in the cardiolaminopathy are not known… Continue reading.