Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy, Naxos Island Disease and Carvajal Syndrome
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Review article Central Eur J Paed 2017;13(2):93-106 DOI 10.5457/p2005-114.177 ARRHYTHMOGENIC RIGHT VENTRICULAR CARDIOMYOPATHY, NAXOS ISLAND DISEASE AND CARVAJAL SYNDROME Ivan MALČIĆ1, Bruno BULJEVIĆ2 1Department of Pediatric Cardiology The aim of this article is to present arrhythmogenic right ventricu- Clinical Hospital Centre Zagreb, Rebro lar cardiomyopathy (ARVC) and the associated cardiocutaneous syn- 2Clinic for internal medicine, Rotes Kreutz dromes, Naxos and Carvajal, with extension on the left ventricle and Hospital, Kassel, Germany a new mutation of the desmoplakin gene. ARVC is an inherited car- diomyopathy characterized by myocyte necrosis, dominantly in the right ventricle. It is a significant cause of sudden death in children and adolescents. A thorough family history and modern diagnostic and treatment approach are prerequisites for prevention of sudden Correspondence: death syndrome. Diagnosis is more often established in adults than [email protected] in children. Within ARVC there are two entity forms, referred to as Tel.: + 385 98 212 841 the Naxos syndrome and the Carvajal syndrome. If ARVC also has Fax.: + 385 1 6232 701 palmoplantar keratoderma with distinctive hair features (woolly hair), it is described as Naxos syndrome, but if cardiomyopathy is spread over both ventricles, with even more severe changes on the left ven- tricle, the entity is referred to as Carvajal syndrome. Inheritance is Received: April 12, 2017 autosomal recessive, and the mutation is in the desmoplakin gene. Accepted: June 13, 2017 Genetic heterogeneity is less pronounced than in the Naxos syndrome. Typically, the disease mostly attacks the left ventricle. Conclusion – In order to prevent sudden cardiac death in children, it is important to recognize the special criteria for ARVC in children, published in 2010. These state the spectrum of phenotypic expressions with the primary Key words: ARVC ■ Naxos-Carvajal disease changes to the right ventricle, but with the spread of cardiomyopathy ■ Diagnostic criteria ■ SCD prevention ■ to the left ventricle (Carvajal syndrome), and cardiocutaneous changes Children. (Naxos syndrome). Introduction time when it was thought that the disease was caused by a defect in the differentiation and Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomy- development of the right ventricle, and that opathy (ARVC) is an inherited cardiomyopa- it had no genetic basis. Today the majority thy characterised by atrophy and necrosis of finds the term “cardiomyopathy” more cor- the myocardium myocytes in the right ven- tricle and their replacement with connective rect, in fact the issue at hand is primary (“sui and often fatty tissue. Clinically, the process generis”) cardiomyopathy. Prevalence of the is initially characterized by occurrence of life- disease in the general population is 1:2000 threatening arrhythmias, gradually leading to to 1:5000 (4, 5, 6). It is three times more failure of the ventricles. The disease was de- frequent in males. A family inheritance pat- scribed as a separate entity in the early 1980’s tern is found in 30 to 50% of patients (4, 7). (1, 2, 3). The term “dysplasia” originated at a Unfortunately, in many cases the first mani- 93 Copyright © 2017 by the University Clinical Centre Tuzla, Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Central Eur J Paed 2017;13(2):93-106 festation of the disease is malignant arrhyth- The pathogenesis is connected with des- mia, so it is a very common cause of death in mosomes, so the disease is sometimes re- young athletes (11-22% of sudden deaths of ferred to as desmopathy. Desmosomes also athletes) (7, 8). take part in the cell-to-cell transfer of elec- The aim of this article is to present ar- trical impulses, and are in a way responsible rhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomy- for cellular mechanical linkage. The issue opathy, and the associated cardiocutaneous in all ARVC cases is alterations in the gene syndromes, Naxos and Carvajal. A particular coding of the desmosomal proteins. Parts of purpose is to highlight the new criteria for the protein structure, particularly the mu- diagnosis of ARVC in children (published tated part, are in the part of the desmosomal 2010.) and present the new mutation of the complex located inside the cell: desmoplakin desmoplakin gene in our patient with Carva- and plakoglobin. Specifically, gene mutation jal syndrome (the spread of cardiomyopathy that takes place in the common genotype to the left ventricle). ARVC mentioned is a mutation of the gene for plakofilin-2 (PKP2), a protein important for connecting extracellular parts of a des- Etiology and pathogenesis mosome with its intracytoplasmatic parts. The disease is genetically determined, with Therefore, it is cytosceletopathy. Mutations very different phenotypes - clinical manifes- of genes not directly in charge of the desmo- tations. Genetic diversity is such that there some protein synthesis are very rare, but they are also ethnic differences. For example, probably participate in its function in some malignant arrhythmias seem to be more way. Be that as it may, ARVC is a disease of common in Italians than in Chinese (8). intercellular linkage: desmosomes break and In most cases the disease is autosomal and the loss of mechanical and “electrical” inter- dominantly inherited, with the exception of cellular links occurs. This leads to cell separa- two autosomal-recessive genetic syndromes tion and, in a yet insufficiently explained way, – Naxos (JUP gene mutation) and Carvajal this encourages inflammatory – and particu- (DSP gene mutation), where ARVC is com- larly – fibrotic reactions. Desmosomal pro- bined with skin and hair alterations, and is teins have a double role: as structural proteins characterized by a severe clinical finding and in intercellular links, and as signal molecules, early involvement of the left ventricle, with the molecules which can alter signal routes different degrees of penetration and variable and gene expression, promote apoptosis and expression. These two syndromes have a pe- intercede the expression of fibrogenic and/or culiar clinical finding, so they are described adipogenic phenotypes (10). In experiments separately at the end of this text (9). How- on mice, it was shown that mechanical (vol- ever, in some cases the underlying genetics ume) heart overload speeds up the process, are not clear. The expression of the disease is and this is certainly also the case in humans also thought to depend somewhat on exter- (8, 9, 10). nal factors: particularly burdening the heart (e.g. strenuous sporting activity), possibly Histological finding also viral infection. The first locus was identi- fied in 1994 in a family from Venice. Today Histologically, the myocardia contains con- twelve genotypes are known, and some au- nective, and often fatty infiltrations, with ar- thors mention thirteen. The most common is eas of surviving myocites (which later cause ARVC9 (11-43% of patients) (8, 10). extrasystoles, impulse circling and tachycar- 94 I. Malčić, B. Buljević ■ Arrhythmogenic RV/LV cardiomypahies, Carvajal syndrome Fig. 1 Histological section of right ventricular muscle. There is marked dense interstitial fibrosis, within which are embedded isolated myocardial fibres. Cellular connective tissue gradually transforms into a sclerotic acellular scar, (× 100, Mallory stain; from our own archives). dia). The presence of fatty cells in the myo- So far the proportion of children in clini- cardia is not pathognomonic, so the evalua- cal trials has been relatively small (11, 12, 13). tion of a finding should also consider other In a large group of 416 patients diagnosed as histological changes as well as the clinical the first family members with ARVC, all were finding. The process of exchanging the myo- diagnosed after the age of 10, but only thir- cardia cells with connective and fatty tissue teen before the age of 13. (11). However, in starts subepicardially and spreads towards the original study by Thiene et al. (14), which the endocardium. It is most emphasized in describes ARVC as a cause of death in the the “triangle of dysplasia” comprised of the young, as many as 50% of the deceased were inferoapical region and right ventricle infun- children and adolescents, with sudden death dibulum. Sometimes aneurysmal expansions often being the first sign of the disease. There occur. The process may also be more diffuse are sporadic reports of ARVC clinical findings (Fig. 1). Initially only the right ventricle is in infants and young children, usually with affected, and in the further development in both ventricles affected (14, 15, 16, 17). 70% of cases the left ventricle is also affected. Then the symptoms are more serious, with Clinical finding pronounced cardiomegaly, possible mitral or tricuspid valve prolapse, more frequent Although the etiopathogenesis of the disease arrhythmias and heart failure. It seems that is, as mentioned, peculiar, it is usually first there is no connection between Uhl’s anom- manifested by a cardiac arrhythmia, which aly (no myocardia in the right ventricle) and may also be lethal. For this reason, early di- ARVC (8). agnosis is essential for patients. Although the 95 Central Eur J Paed 2017;13(2):93-106 disease certainly exists from birth, with the would avert an unfavorable outcome for the symptoms most commonly starting in ado- patient. In so doing, in the advanced stages lescence, diagnoses have so far generally been of the disease it is important not to mistake made in adulthood, unfortunately too often ARVC for other cardiomyopathies,