Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy – General Information

Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (also abbreviated HCM and also known as Idiopathic Hypertrophic Subaortic Stenosis –IHSS– and Hypertrophic Obstructive Cardiomyopathy– HOCM–) is the disease of the myocardium in which a proportion of the muscle of the heart is hypertrophies without any reason. This disorder is the most common cause of sudden and unexpected cardiac death in athletes, but it can develop in any age group. The cardiomyopathy refers to any disease which primary affects the muscle of the heart (the myocardium). If the normal alignment of the muscle’s cells is disrupted, this is called myocardial disarray. This medical condition may also lead to the disruption of the electrical function of the heart.

This disease results from a mutation in one of the genes, that leads to a mutated myosin chain (the myosin chain is one of the components of the muscle cells of the heart, which are also known as myocytes). Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy is classified in obstructive and non-obstructive (for example a non-obstructive disease is the apical hypertrophic – also known as Japanese variant type) depending on how bad is the obstruction of the blood from the left ventricle. This medical condition may be inherited, acquired as an effect of the high blood pressure and aging, but there are also cases when the causes of the appearance and development of this disease are unknown. Although all the researches focus on the American, European and the Japanese populations, this medical condition may appear in all the racial groups.

Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy – Symptoms

It is well known the fact that any medical disorder (including Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy) can trigger a variety of symptoms. Therefore, some of this medical condition's most uncommon symptoms have not been listed (mentioned) here. This is why we strongly recommend you to contact your personal health care provider whenever you develop any unusual, bothersome or unpleasant symptoms. Your personal physician will be able to tell you if you are suffering from Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy or from any other medical disorder. Here is a list of the most common symptoms that a person who suffers from this disorder, may experience. The majorities of the patients who are suffering from this disease are usually asymptomatic or have mild symptoms which can occur in any age category. Patients may experience the following symptoms: chest pain (which usually appears while doing physical activities or even after eating), dyspnea (also known as shortness of breath) and fatigue which are more common in the adult patients, fainting (also known as syncope) affects about a quarter of the patients who are suffering from this medical condition and it is usually caused by the irregular heart beat, palpitations (also known as fluttering in the chest) also appear as a result of the irregular heart beats (also known as arrhythmias), sudden death – this occurs in a small number of the people who are suffering from Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. It is recommended to see a medical provider as soon as one can, in order to avoid complications and sudden death.

Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy – Treatment

The doctor or personal health care provider will establish the diagnosis after asking the patient about the symptoms that he or she has been experiencing and also about the patient’s family history. Also the doctor will listen to the patient’s heart in order to identify abnormal heart beats (the patients who are suffering from Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy have a heart murmur) and also to the patient’s lungs.
The doctor or personal health care provider will ask the patient to make an echocardiogram test because at this test the doctor can see if the walls of the heart are thicker (the patients who are suffering from Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy have the walls of the heart thickened) . The doctor may also ask the individuals to do some blood tests, electrocardiogram, echocardiogram, chest x-rays, exercise tests, magnetic resonance imaging tests and also cardiac catheterization. After the doctor receives the results of all these tests he will establish the correct diagnostic.

Before prescribing the treatment for the individuals who are suffering from Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, the doctor will take into consideration the following factors: the patient’s symptoms, the age of the patient, the functioning of the patient’s heart, if the patient has arrhythmias and the level of activity of the individual. The principal scope of the treatment is to prevent the complications and also the symptoms and it includes life style changes, medications, medical procedures and also the risk identification. It is very important for the doctor to identify the patients who are suffering from Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy who are at a risk for sudden cardiac death, in order to take measures which prevent the cardiac death. The people who have a higher risk of developing cardiac death are those who have a medical family history in cardiac death, the patients who experienced several syncope episodes, the patients who have severe symptoms, and those who have abnormal blood pressure.

The doctors usually prescribe the medications in order to relieve and treat the symptoms and to treat the complications which may appear. The drugs usually help the heart muscle to relax and by relaxing the heart the degree of obstruction of the heart is diminished. Usually doctors recommend beta blockers and calcium channel blockers in the patients who are suffering from Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. In the patients who have arrhythmias the doctors usually recommend medications which help the patient to control the heart beat. The patients are recommended to avoid nitrates because these drugs usually lower the blood pressure, and they should also avoid digoxin because these medications increase the contraction force. Other drugs which are usually recommended in the patients who are suffering from Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy:

• Adalat – these are drugs which are used to treat the anginas.
• Adalat CC – these are drugs which are used to treat the anginas.
• Afeditab CR – these drugs reduce the arterial blood pressure.
• Nifedical XL – these drugs reduce the arterial blood pressure.

Another treatment option is the heart transplantation which can control the symptoms and increase the rate of survival.