Arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM) is a familial myocardial disease related to ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death in young patients and athletes. It is difficult to diagnose and predict the cardiopathy risk owing to age-related expression and incomplete gene penetrance. Analysis of cardiac myocyte junctional protein distribution via myocardial biopsy has diagnostic and prognostic value, but it remains an ethical dilemma.
Researchers from the UK have evaluated if buccal mucosa samples can predict the prognosis of ACM in children, as previous reports show that junctional protein redistribution of buccal mucosa cells is similar to that observed in cardiac myocytes of adult patients with ACM. Study details The results of this study suggest that buccal mucosal cells are a potential surrogate for myocardium and can be employed in further studies to understand junctional…
