Several types of SMAs have been described based on age onset of clinical features: Acute infantile (SMA type I), chronic infantile (SMA type II), chronic juvenile (SMA type III), and adult onset (SMA type IV) forms. The incidence is about 1:6,000 live births with a carrier frequency of 1:40 for the severe form and 1:80 for the juvenile form. The mortality and/or morbidity rates of SMAs are inversely correlated

with the age at onset. SMAs are believed to only affect skeletal muscles; however, new data on SMA mice models suggest they may also impact the heart. Aim of the study was to retrospectively examine the cardiological records of 37 type molecularly Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical confirmed II/III SMA patients, aged 6 to 65 years, in order to evaluate the onset and evolution of the cardiac involvement in these disorders. All patients had a standard ECG and a routine echocardiography. The parameters analysed were the following: Heart rate (HR), PQ interval, PQ segment, Cardiomyopathic Index (ratio QT/PQs), ventricular and supraventricular ectopic beats, pauses ≥ 2,5msec, ventricle Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical diameters, wall and septum thickness, ejection fraction, fiber shortening. The results showed that HR and the other ECG parameters were within the normal limits Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical except for

the Cardiomyopathic Index that was higher than the normal values (2,6-4,2) in 2 patients. Left ventricular systolic function was within the normal limits in all patients. A dilation of the left ventricle without systolic dysfunction was observed in only 2 patients, Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical aged respectively 65 and 63 years; however they were hypertensive and/or affected by coronary artery disease. Data here reported contribute to reassure patients and their clinicians

that type II/III SMAs do not present heart dysfunction. Key words: Spinal Muscular Atrophies, Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical heart involvement, cardiomyopathy Background Spinal muscular atrophies (SMAs) refer to a group of neuromuscular disorders characterized by degeneration of the anterior horn cells of the spinal cord, leading to weakness of the lower motor neurons and progressive muscular atrophy. Several types of SMAs have been described based on age onset of clinical features: Acute infantile (SMA type I), Chronic infantile others (SMA type II), Chronic juvenile (SMA type III), and Adult onset (SMA type IV) forms (1). The incidence is about 1:6,000 live births with a mean carrier frequency of 1:50. The mortality and/or morbidity rates of SMAs are inversely AZD5363 chemical structure correlated with the age at onset. Deletions in the survival motor neuron (SMN) gene (5q11.2-5q13.3) are the major determinants of SMA phenotype (2-9) while deletions in the neuronal apoptosis inhibitory protein (NAIP) gene may correlate with the severity of SMA (10-12). Humans express a copy gene, SMN2, from the same region of chromosome 5q as a result of duplication and inversion. SMN2 is nearly identical to SMN1 (2-4); however, mutations in SMN2 have no clinical consequence if intact SMN1 is present.