Intractable Rare Dis Res. 2020;9(4):229-232. (DOI: 10.5582/irdr.2020.03042)

Genetic variant affecting the myosin light chain 2 related to familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

Saldarriaga W, Ávila LA, Vásquez MA, Betancourt M, Valencia C

Familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (FHCM) is a genetic disease characterized by left ventricle (LV) or interventricular septum hypertrophy. FHCM is a common heart disease (affecting 1 out of 500 individuals) associated with genetic variants in genes related to the sarcomere, including the MYL2 (myosin light chain 2) gene that is affected in 1 to 3% of the cases. As described in this report, the genetic mutation p.Gly87Ala, rs 397516399 in the MYL2 gene is likely pathogenic. Reported here is the case of a 37-year-old Colombian man with asymmetric septal hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and ventricular tachycardia. The man had progressive symptomatology, a family history of FHCM with a dominant inheritance pattern, a mother and 2 brothers with FHCM, and 2 brothers who died suddenly before the age of 35. A molecular panel of 17 genes for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy identified a heterozygous variant, p.Gly87Ala, of the MYL2 gene. This variant can be found in Ensembl, dbSNP, and ClinVar, where it has conflicting interpretations: it either has an uncertain significance or it is likely pathogenic. This is the first report of a Colombian case of FHCM secondary to a mutation in the MYL2 gene, highlighting the importance of molecular diagnosis, genetic counseling, and bioinformatic analysis in these patients.

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