Family history: the three-generation pedigree.

The collection of a family history ranges from simply asking patients if family members have the same presenting illness to diagramming complex medical and psychosocial relationships as part of a family genogram. The three-generation pedigree provides a pictorial representation of diseases within a family and is the most efficient way to assess hereditary influences on disease. Two recent events have made family history assessment more important than ever: the completion of the Human Genome Project with resultant identification of the inherited causes of many diseases, and the establishment of national clinical practice guidelines based on systematic reviews of preventive interventions. The family history is useful in stratifying a patient's risk for rare single-gene disorders and more common diseases with multiple genetic and environmental contributions. Major organizations have endorsed using standardized symbols in pedigrees to identify inherited contributions to disease.

[1]  S Kamen,et al.  The task force. , 1976, Journal of hospital dental practice.

[2]  A D Mickalide,et al.  U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. , 1986, Pediatric clinics of North America.

[3]  R. Bennett,et al.  Recommendations for standardized human pedigree nomenclature. Pedigree Standardization Task Force of the National Society of Genetic Counselors. , 1995, American journal of human genetics.

[4]  B. Yashar,et al.  A guide to genetic counseling , 1998 .

[5]  L Culpepper,et al.  The duration of ambulatory visits to physicians. , 1999, The Journal of family practice.

[6]  M. Severin.  Genetic susceptibility for specific cancers , 1999, Cancer.

[7]  Kurt C Stange,et al.  Family history-taking in community family practice: Implications for genetic screening , 2000, Genetics in Medicine.

[8]  R. Gershoni-baruch,et al.  Familial Mediterranean fever: prevalence, penetrance and genetic drift , 2001, European Journal of Human Genetics.

[9]  AH Bittles,et al.  Consanguinity and its relevance to clinical genetics , 2001, Clinical genetics.

[10]  M. Province,et al.  Usefulness of cardiovascular family history data for population-based preventive medicine and medical research (the Health Family Tree Study and the NHLBI Family Heart Study). , 2001, The American journal of cardiology.

[11]  A. Dirksen,et al.  Standards for the diagnosis and management of individuals with alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency: Executive summary , 2003 .

[12]  N. Tsarouhas,et al.  Prolonged QT syndrome in children: an uncommon but potentially fatal entity. , 2003, The Journal of emergency medicine.

[13]  The "duty to warn" a patient's family members about hereditary disease risks. , 2005, JAMA.

[14]  M. Genuardi,et al.  Simple and complex genetics of colorectal cancer susceptibility , 2004, American journal of medical genetics. Part C, Seminars in medical genetics.

[15]  Awareness of family health history as a risk factor for disease--United States, 2004. , 2004, MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report.

[16]  A. Pietrangelo.  Hereditary hemochromatosis--a new look at an old disease. , 2004, The New England journal of medicine.

[17]  L. Acheson,et al.  Current and future applications of genetics in primary care medicine. , 2004, Primary care.

[18]  J. Stoller.  Erratum: ATS/ERS Statement: Standards for the Diagnosis and Management of Individuals with Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency (American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (835)) , 2004 .

[19]  Robin L. Bennett,et al.  Recommendations for standardized human pedigree nomenclature , 1995, Journal of Genetic Counseling.

[20]  D. Wattendorf,et al.  Personalizing prevention: the U.S. Surgeon General's Family History Initiative. , 2005, American family physician.

[21]  A. Dirksen,et al.  American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society: Standards in Diagnostik und Therapie bei Patienten mit Alpha-1-Antitrypsin-Mangel , 2005 .

[22]  L. Acheson,et al.  Reconsidering the family history in primary care , 2004, Journal of General Internal Medicine.