Rationale: Familial recurrence studies provide strong evidence for a genetic component to the predisposition to sporadic, non-syndromic Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF), the most common cyanotic congenital heart disease (CHD) phenotype. Rare genetic variants have been identified as important contributors to the risk of CHD, but relatively small numbers of TOF cases have been studied to date. Objective: We used whole exome sequencing (WES) to assess the prevalence of unique, deleterious variants in the largest cohort of non-syndromic TOF patients reported to date. Methods and Results: 829 TOF patients underwent WES. The presence of unique, deleterious variants was determined; defined by their absence in the Genome Aggregation Database (gnomAD) and a scaled combined annotation-dependent depletion (CADD) score of ≥20. The clustering of variants in two genes, NOTCH1 and FLT4, surpassed thresholds for genome-wide significance (assigned as P<5x10-8) after correction for multiple comparisons. NOTCH1 was most frequently found to harbour unique, deleterious variants. 31 changes were observed in 37 probands (4.5%; 95% confidence interval [CI]:3.2-6.1%) and included seven loss-of-function variants 22 missense variants and two in-frame indels. Sanger-sequencing of the unaffected parents of seven cases identified five de novo variants. Three NOTCH1 variants (p.G200R, p.C607Y and p.N1875S) were subjected to functional evaluation and two showed a reduction in Jagged1-induced NOTCH signalling. FLT4 variants were found in 2.4% (95% CI:1.6-3.8%) of TOF patients, with 21 patients harbouring 22 unique, deleterious variants. The variants identified were distinct to those that cause the congenital lymphoedema syndrome Milroy Disease. In addition to NOTCH1, FLT4 and the well-established TOF gene, TBX1, we identified potential association with variants in several other candidates including RYR1, ZFPM1, CAMTA2, DLX6 and PCM1. Conclusions: The NOTCH1 locus is the most frequent site of genetic variants predisposing to nonsyndromic TOF, followed by FLT4. Together, variants in these genes are found in almost 7% of TOF patients.

The SADQ may be used for assessing depressed mood in aphasic patients in the community though further validation is required.

No abstract

Cognitive behavior therapy is an appropriate treatment for some depressed stroke patients and beneficial for some patients. Further evaluation of this treatment with stroke patients is warranted.

Objective: To evaluate the feasibility of a multicentre, observer-blind, pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) of a wristband accelerometer with activity-dependent vibration alerts to prompt impaired arm use after stroke. Design: Parallel-group pilot RCT. Setting: Four English stroke services. Participants: Patients 0–3 months post stroke with a new arm deficit. Intervention: Participants were randomized to wear a prompting or ‘sham’ wristband during a four-week self-directed therapy programme with twice-weekly therapy review. Main outcomes: Recruitment, retention and adherence rates, safety and completion of assessments were reported. Arm recovery was measured by Action Research Arm Test (ARAT) and Motor Activity Log (MAL) without statistical comparison. Results: In total, 33 patients were recruited (0.6 per month/site; median time post stroke: 26 days (interquartile range (IQR):15.5–45)). Baseline, four-week and eight-week median (IQR) ARAT for the control group ( n = 19) were 15 (2–35), 35 (15–26) and 31 (21–55) and those for the intervention group (n = 14) were 37 (16–45), 57 (29–57) and 57 (37–57), respectively; for MAL Amount of Use, the corresponding values in the control group were 0.2 (0.0–1.2), 1.1 (0.3–2.9) and 1.2 (0.7–2.9) and in the intervention group were 1.4 (0.5–2.6), 3.8 (1.9–4.5) and 3.7 (2.1–4.3). Four participants withdrew from the study. Wristbands were worn for 79% of the recommended time. The intervention and control group participants received a median of 6.0 (IQR: 4.3–8.0) and 7.5 (IQR: 6.8–8.0) therapy reviews. A median of 8 (IQR: 6–10) prompts were delivered per intervention participant/day. Research assessments were completed for 28/29 and 25/28 patients at four and eight weeks. Eight serious adverse events were reported, all unrelated to the intervention. Conclusion: A multicentre RCT of wristband accelerometers to prompt arm activity early after stroke is feasible. A total sample of 108 participants would be required.