Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM) is an inherited condition. It is caused by hypertrophy (thickening) of the heart muscle walls. Genetic mutations lead to excessive growth of the heart muscle, mainly the left ventricle and the heart’s septum. This disrupts the architecture of the heart and causes problems in its function that can become serious and even cause sudden cardiac death.
Symptoms of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
Myocardial hypertrophy may not show any symptoms at all. However, because it is a hereditary disease, if there are people in the family with heart disease at a young age or who died of sudden cardiac death, it is more likely that the offspring will develop hypertrophic cardiomyopathy even without showing symptoms. There are also patients who develop symptoms. The most common are:
- Shortness of breath during exercise or at rest.
- Frequent feeling of fatigue
- Chest pain
- Irregular heart rhythm (arrhythmias)
- Fainting or dizziness
Diagnosis of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
Diagnosis includes medical history, auscultation of the heart, electrocardiogram to detect arrhythmias or overload of the heart, echocardiogram to identify hypertrophy of the heart muscle, as it shows the distinctive thickening of the walls of the left ventricle. Depending on the case, other imaging techniques may be used to assess the structure and function of the heart, such as cardiac magnetic resonance imaging.
Treatment
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy can cause serious complications, such as arrhythmias that, if severe, lead to sudden cardiac death. It can also reduce the heart’s ability to pump blood effectively, mainly causing mitral valve regurgitation, making blood flow difficult.
Treatment includes:
- Drug therapy with beta blockers or calcium channel blockers that reduce heart rate and blood pressure and help control arrhythmias. In the case of obstruction of the left ventricular outflow tract due to hypertrophy (obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy), disopyramide can be added to the treatment to help reduce the subaortic or intraventricular pressure gradient and improve symptoms.
- For people with severe arrhythmias, it may be necessary to place a pacemaker or defibrillator to prevent sudden cardiac death.
- Alcohol injection into the heart muscle to reduce hypertrophy Myectomy, which is the name for the surgical removal of hypertrophic tissue from the heart to improve blood flow and reduce blockage.
