The importance of the family history in caring for families with long QT syndrome and dilated cardiomyopathy

In potentially inherited cardiac diseases, the family history is of great importance. We looked at the way cardiologists take a family history in patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) or long QT syndrome (LQTS) and whether this led to screening of relatives or other follow‐up. We performed retrospective cross‐sectional analyses of adult index patients with DCM or LQTS in a general hospital (GH) or a University Medical Center (UMC). We identified 82 index patients with DCM (34 GH; 48 UMC) and 20 with LQTS (all UMC) between 1996 and 2005. Mean follow‐up was 58 months. A family history was recorded in 90% of both LQTS and DCM patients most of the cases restricted to first‐degree family members. The genetic aspects, counseling and screening of family members was discussed significantly more often with LQTS than DCM patients (all P