Symptoms of Familial Heart Disease

Hereditary heart disease should be suspected when a person with a family history of heart disease or sudden death presents with any of the following symptoms,especially if they occur when they are young:

• Syncope (non-vasovagal). Abrupt and brief loss of consciousness (less than 1 minute) in the absence of a specific triggering circumstance and without previous symptoms (or very brief less than 10 seconds).
• Seizures.
• Nocturnal agonal breathing.
• Dyspnoea or exertional intolerance. 
• Lower limb oedema. 
• Palpitations.

An electrocardiogram shows abnormalities in the majority of cases, but they are often non-specific and a normal electrocardiogram result does not necessarily exclude the diagnosis.