Precision Medicine of Channelopathies: The successful model of Long QT syndrome

Abstract

A few years ago, the notion of "precision medicine" was defined by the American National Research Council in their Precision Medicine Initiative as an emerging approach for disease treatment that takes into account individual variability in genes, environment and lifestyle. Since then, it has rapidely expanded over the former notion of "personalized medicine" which may ambiguously indicate the design of drugs or devices to treat litterarly every unique patient differently. Precision medicine rather indicates subcategorizing patients into homogeneous groups in order to offer them a better management of disease and provide more efficient therapeutic approaches. Indeed, the genetic profile of individuals is a major determinant in the process of patients subcategorization. Generally, the pathophysiology of diseases involves distinct cellular and physiological mechanisms in individuals who have different genetic profils. Therefore, it was essential for precision medicine practicioners to consider genetic nuances of each patient prior to tailoring any therapeutic intervention.