Sudden cardiac death due to cardiac arrhythmia is one of the most common causes of death in Norway. In young people it is often caused by a hereditary heart disease.

The group is researching methods which can contribute to further mapping and treatment of patients suffering from hereditary heart disease.

Prevention of sudden cardiac death (SCD) is a major challenge in cardiology. Mechanical Dispersion (MD) assessed by speckle tracking echocardiography can predict risk of SCD in several cardiac diseases.

Young individuals with cardiac genetic diseases are predisposed to SCD, and risk stratification is vital in these patients. Ongoing research is focusing on characterization of cardiac function and prediction of life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias in patients at risk of SCD.

Better risk assessment will provide a stronger selection of patients with high risk of death. At-risk individuals may receive preventive drug treatment, and those at high risk may receive an implantable cardioverter defibrillator.

Visit also: ProCardio Center for Innovation
ProCardio is a center for research-based innovation, lead by professor Kristina Haugaa. 

All patients with suspected cardiomyopathy are recommended genetic testing in order to find a cause for the symptoms. This is one of the main messages in the first comprehensive European guidelines in the field.
This applies not least to dilated cardiomyopathy, where possible genetic causes may go under the radar, even though they can be present in up to every other case, says Kristina Haugaa, head of the Cardiogenetics and sudden cardiac death group at OUH, professor of cardiology at the University of Oslo and senior consultant at Karolinska University Hospital. She is co-author of the new guidelines on cardiomyopathies presented at the ESC Congress in Amsterdam, and has been interviewed about the findings for the newspaper "Dagens Medicin".

Kristina Haugaa is the second most publishing female researcher in Norway for the period 2019-2022, and is number 29 in total. The ranking is based on publication points, and has been published by the research and education news site Khrono.
Haugaa, who researches hereditary heart diseases, is consultant cardiologist at OUS, professor at the University of Oslo and heads a center for researchbased innovation, ProCardio.
As center manager and supervisor for research fellows and postdocs, she is involved in many projects, which results in many publications.