New and Existing Risk Factors in Patients With Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

Abstract

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is characterized by the presence of increased thickness of the left ventricular (LV) wall that is not solely explained by abnormal loading conditions.The clinical course of HCM varies significantly. Some patients are entirely or nearly asymptomatic throughout their lives, but some have dyspnea, angina, palpitations, or syncope, whereas a minority patients die suddenly, even in the absence of previous symptoms.

The highest risk of sudden cardiac death is at a young age. In contrast, elderly patients have a higher risk of all-cause mortality than do sex- and age-comparable populations, but their risk of sudden death is low.

Keywords

• alcohol septal ablation
• sudden cardiac death
• implantable cardioverter-defibrillators
• obstructive cardiomyopathy
• task-force
• prevention
• guidelines
• diagnosis
• survival