Science / Medicine : Heart Disease Gene Tracked

Scientists reported last week that they have found the approximate site of a gene that causes an inherited heart disease, a step that may lead to improved treatment of the illness and more common heart problems.

“We’re delighted,” said Dr. Christine Seidman, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School who led an international team that made the discovery. “I think it is a very significant breakthrough.”

In a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Seidman and her colleagues traced the genetic defect that causes a condition known as familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy to the so-called long arm of chromosome 14.

The disease causes a gradual thickening of one of the walls inside the heart that impairs its function. Many victims can live for years, but others suffer sudden heart failure or require transplants.