[Sudden cardiac death: toward the identification of susceptibity genes].

Sudden cardiac death (SCD) remains a major health problem in developed countries with a rate of incidence close to 1/1000 inhabitants/year. In most cases (>80%), SCD occurs as the initial manifestation of a previously ignored cardiac disease, usually coronary artery disease. As a consequence, known risk factors for SCD overlap with those for coronary artery disease and thus are not contributive to identify individuals prone to SCD in the general population. Several clinical studies have demonstrated an increased risk for SCD if one family first-degree relative has experienced SCD, suggesting a genetically acquired susceptibility. Discovering the molecular determinant of this genetic susceptibility may demonstrate extreme value to stratify the risk in the community and to guide prevention. The present review analyses state-of-the-heart research conducted in this field and tentatively measure the distance to be covered before large-scale genetic tests are routinely available in clinical practice.