Release date: 2015-02-04
The "virtual heart" can simulate the heart problems caused by genetic factors, and help to reveal the mystery of the sudden death syndrome.
If a person suddenly dies unexpectedly, there is usually a potential heart problem. About 1.3 out of every 100,000 people die from Arrhythmia Sudden Death Syndrome (SADS), which is part of the cause of sudden infant death. Recently, the Australian Zhang Renqian Heart Institute developed a “virtual heart†model that simulates heart problems caused by genetic factors. By running on a supercomputer, it can help people uncover the mystery of this most mysterious heart disease.
SADS may be caused by a variety of genetic factors that affect how electrical signals pass through the myocardium. If it is a genetic variant, it can be treated with drugs or a defibrillator implanted in the chest. But what about people with potential SADS risks? Gene sequencing can help, but not all people with variant genes will develop this disease. Electrocardiograms (ECGs) can detect electrical activity in the heart, but people are not well aware of the ECG characteristics associated with SADS risk.
According to the British "New Scientist" website reported on February 1, "virtual heart" simulates the beating of heart by hundreds of specific genes, each of which manipulates thousands of beats. One hallmark of the genetic factors that may cause SADS is the long QT syndrome, a unique heartbeat that appears as a v-wave on the electrocardiogram. Adam Hill of the institute said: "In the past 30 years, this v-wave has been the standard of diagnosis, but no one knows what caused it. Now we know the reason."
The research team obtained a lot of data by running the simulated heart. The more extreme the heartbeat of the model on the ECG, the higher the risk of death represented by this condition. And they found that if the main genes that cause a problem are combined with others, they will amplify or compensate for the consequences of these genes.
"Our model shows that the degree of t-wave sag is related to the magnitude of the risk," said research team member Alas Sadria. "So, if someone carries a variant gene, but his ECG shows that he is absolutely normal, then There is no need to do complicated surgery to prevent sudden cardiac death. If his sister's electrocardiogram has a deeper t-wave, then her risk is even greater."
The researchers point out that it is impractical to conduct this study with the heart of a real patient, because you need a large number of combinations of specific genes to express their effects on the heart, and to perform genome-wide sequencing for each patient and spend Many days to measure the ECG. Hill said that they have applied experimental data to the patient's ECG record to analyze the meaning of the more detailed lines to make a more accurate diagnosis. With the virtual heart, they have also made progress in distinguishing between different types of long QT syndrome.
In this regard, Peter Hunt, a world-renowned heart model expert and the University of Auckland in New Zealand, said: "The result can be said to be a milestone. On the question of how to fully explore the v-wave problem, the research has been pushed to a new level."
Source: China Science and Technology Network
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