Center for Cardiovascular Genetics

Comprehensive Care for Cardiovascular Genetic Conditions

The Center for Cardiovascular Genetics provides genetic evaluation and testing to identify an individual's inherited risk of developing a cardiovascular condition.

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Cardiovascular disease may run in families. The Center for Cardiovascular Genetics is led by experts who study the role your genes may play in developing heart disease. Our approach includes a personalized evaluation and management plan for you and your loved ones, including genetic counseling, testing and therapeutic options for your specific needs. Our multi-disciplinary team includes a cardiovascular geneticist and specialists in electrophysiology, vascular medicine, hyperlipidemia, and heart failure to provide you and your family with a comprehensive genetic assessment.

More About the Center for Cardiovascular Genetics

In this video, Usman Tahir, MD, Caitlin Finn, MS, CGC, and Robert Gerszten, MD, describe the work of the Center for Cardiovascular Genetics.

Contact Us

For appointments, referrals, or more information, please email us. Consults can be scheduled as telehealth visits, and some testing may be conducted remotely.

Conditions Appropriate for Genetic Testing

The Center for Cardiovascular Genetics welcomes patients, with or without a referral, concerned about their and their family's cardiovascular disease risk. An evaluation for genetic heart disease is appropriate for individuals who have:

• A family history of early, sudden cardiac death, particularly at age 60 or younger
• Prior experiences of blackouts or sudden loss of consciousness
• A diagnosis or family history of:
• Hyperlipidemia and/or history of coronary artery disease at a young age
• Disorders of the heart muscle such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM)
• Arrhythmias (abnormal heart rhythms such as atrial fibrillation, long QT syndrome, and Brugada syndrome)
• Connective tissue disorders that may affect blood vessels such as the aorta, including Marfan's Syndrome
• Systemic diseases that may affect the heart and other organs, such as muscular dystrophy or skeletal myopathy

If a cardiovascular concern is identified, physicians at the clinic follow the patient and family members over the long term, recommending preventive measures and proactive treatments to reduce cardiovascular disease risk and manage existing heart disease. For clinic or telehealth appointments, please email us.

If medical management is no longer advised, the team works with colleagues in Cardiac Surgery to offer surgical options to patients with genetic heart disease, such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Learn more about the BIDMC Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Clinic at the Center for Cardiovascular Genetics.

FAQs: Cardiovascular Genetic Conditions

Meet Our Team