Document Detail


World survey of the common cardiac malformations: developmental error or genetic variant?
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  7113938     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
The common cardiac malformations are prevalent throughout the world, in countries of high technology and among the primitive races. These same malformations were described 200 years ago, ectopia cordis 5,000 years ago. Their recent increase is directly related to the advent of cardiac treatment. Most cardiac malformations known to man occur in the dog. The prevalence rate of these malformations is the same in the dog and in man (5-8/1,000). Several of the malformations are heritable in specific breeds of dogs, one in rabbits, another in rats. These malformations occur in various animals that cannot interbreed. Hence the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) that codes these malformations must lie in that portion of the DNA common to all mammals. This suggests that these malformations occurred during the evolution of the Mammalia. Mammals evolved from reptiles, animals with hearts of various structures for the separation of arterial and venous blood. Although the "normal" heart is the most compatible with mammalian life and hence the most common, some mammals may have evolved with a heart with different structures for the separation of arterial and venous blood. Some of these hearts have persisted. These primeval hearts we call cardiac malformations of the cyanotic group. Malformations that apparently are arrests in the development of the normal heart (patent ductus arteriosus, atrioventricular canal) may represent stages in the evolution of the "normal" heart. Although teratogens and mutagens do exist, the author conceives of congenital cardiac malformations not as arrests or errors in the development of a "normal" heart but as genetic variants.
Authors:
H B Taussig
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Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't    
Journal Detail:
Title:  The American journal of cardiology     Volume:  50     ISSN:  0002-9149     ISO Abbreviation:  Am. J. Cardiol.     Publication Date:  1982 Sep 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  1982-10-12     Completed Date:  1982-10-12     Revised Date:  2006-11-15    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  0207277     Medline TA:  Am J Cardiol     Country:  UNITED STATES    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  544-59     Citation Subset:  AIM; IM    
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Adult
Animals
Aortic Valve Stenosis / epidemiology
Child
Dogs
Ductus Arteriosus, Patent / epidemiology,  surgery
Evolution
Female
Genetic Code
Heart Defects, Congenital / epidemiology*,  genetics,  surgery,  veterinary
Heart Septal Defects, Ventricular / epidemiology
Humans
Infant, Newborn
Tetralogy of Fallot / epidemiology

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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