[Clinical and Genetic Characteristics of Children with Primary Dilated Cardiomyopathy]

Objectives: To study the genetic characteristics, clinical characteristics, and prognosis of children with primary dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM).

Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on the medical data of 44 children who were diagnosed with DCM in Hebei Children's Hospital from July 2018 to February 2023. According to the genetic testing results, they were divided into two groups: gene mutation-positive group (=17) and gene mutation-negative group (=27). The two groups were compared in terms of clinical data at initial diagnosis and follow-up data.

Results: Among the 44 children with DCM, there were 21 boys (48%) and 23 girls (52%). Respiratory symptoms including cough and shortness of breath were the most common symptom at initial diagnosis (34%, 15/44). The detection rate of gene mutations was 39% (17/44). There were no significant differences between the two groups in clinical characteristics, proportion of children with cardiac function grade Ⅲ or Ⅳ, brain natriuretic peptide levels, left ventricular ejection fraction, and left ventricular fractional shortening at initial diagnosis (>0.05). The median follow-up time was 23 months, and 9 children (20%) died, including 8 children from the gene mutation-positive group, among whom 3 had gene mutation, 2 had gene mutation, 2 had gene mutation, and 1 had gene mutation. The gene mutation-positive group had a significantly higher mortality rate than the gene mutation-negative group (<0.05).

Conclusions: There is no correlation between the severity of DCM at initial diagnosis and gene mutations in children. However, children with gene mutations may have a poorer prognosis.