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Inherited mutations cause approximately 35 percent of cases of dilated cardiomyopathy; however, few genes associated with this disease have been identified. Previously, we located a gene defect that was responsible for autosomal dominant dilated cardiomyopathy and conduction-system disease on chromosome 1p1–q21, where nuclear-envelope proteins lamin A and lamin C are encoded by the LMNA (lamin A/C) gene. Mutations in the head or tail domain of this gene cause Emery–Dreifuss muscular dystrophy, a childhood-onset disease characterized by joint contractures and in some cases by abnormalities of cardiac conduction during adulthood.

We evaluated 11 families with autosomal dominant dilated cardiomyopathy and conduction-system disease. Sequences of the lamin A/C exons were determined in probands from each family, and variants were confirmed by restriction …