Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy - Screening

Screening

Although HCM may be asymptomatic, affected individuals may present with symptoms ranging from mild to critical heart failure and sudden cardiac death at any point from early childhood to seniority. HCM is the leading cause of sudden cardiac death in young athletes in the United States, and the most common genetic cardiovascular disorder. One study found that the incidence of sudden cardiac death in young competitive athletes declined in the Veneto region of Italy by 89% since introduction of routine Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Screening of athletes. As of 2010, however, studies have shown that the incidence of sudden cardiac death, among all HCM patients, has declined to one percent, or less. HCM can be detected with an echocardiogram with 80%+ accuracy, which can be preceded by screening with an electrocardiogram (ECG) to test for heart abnormalities. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR), considered the gold standard for determining the physical properties of the left ventricular wall, can serve as an alterative screening tool when an echocardiogram provides inconclusive results. For example, the identification of segmental lateral ventricular hypertrophy cannot be accomplished with echocardiography alone. Also, left ventricular hypertrophy may be absent in children under thirteen years of age. This undermines the results of pre-adolescents’ echocardiograms. Researchers, however, have studied asymptomatic carriers of a HCM-causing mutation through the use of CMR and have been able to identify crypts in the interventricular septal tissue in these patients. It has been proposed that the formation of these crypts is an indication of myocyte disarray and altered vessel walls that may later result in the clinical expression of HCM. Lastly, giving warning of heart abnormalities in only 3% of patients before sudden cardiac death, the gathering of family history and physical examination alone are ineffective. A possible explanation for this is that the gathering of family history only focuses on whether sudden death occurred or not. It fails to acknowledge the age at which relatives suffered sudden cardiac death, as well as the frequency of the cardiac events. Furthermore, given the several factors necessary to be considered at risk for sudden cardiac death, and that no factor is more important than another, there exists ambiguity regarding when to implement special treatment.