Chronic Atrial Intestinal Dysrhythmia syndrome (CAID)

December 31, 2014

Overview

Chronic Atrial Intestinal Dysrhythmia syndrome (CAIDsyndrome) is a rare disease affecting both, heart rate and intestinal movements. The disease is a serious condition caused by a rare genetic mutation.

Symptoms

The CAID syndrome shows various severe cardiac and intestinal symptoms:

slow heart rate
chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction

Causes

Chronic Atrial Intestinal Dysrhythmia syndrome is caused by a single shared homozygous founder mutation in SGOL1, a component of the cohesin complex.

Treatment

Treatments of CAID syndrome are very aggressive and invasive. At cardiac level, patients with slow heart rate require the implantation of a pacemaker for half of them, often as early as in their childhood. At digestive level, a chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction will often force patients to feed exclusively intravenously. Furthermore, many of them will also have to undergo bowel surgery.