GATA transcription factors in congenital heart defects: a commentary on a novel GATA6 mutation in patients with tetralogy of Fallot or atrial septal defect.

摘要

Congenital heart defects (CHDs) occur in nearly 1% of all live births and are the major cause of infant mortality and morbidity. In addition, about 3 per every 1000 live births will require some intervention during the first year of life. Despite its clinical importance, the underlying genetic etiology of most CHD remains unknown. Previous studies succeeded in revealing genetic causes of some syndromic or familial CHD, however, there are limited numbers of such cases, and it is still difficult to approach the etiology of the majority of CHD, that manifest non-syndromic and non-familial phenotype, because of their multi-factorial nature.