Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

[Jason Yan]

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy includes a group of heart disorders in which the walls of the ventricles (the two lower chambers of the heart) thicken (hypertrophy) and become stiff.

Most cases of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy are caused by an inherited genetic defect.
People experience fainting, chest pain, shortness of breath, and palpitations (awareness of irregular heartbeats).
Doctors suspect the diagnosis based on physical examination findings, but they use echocardiography or magnetic resonance imaging to confirm the diagnosis.
Drugs that reduce the force of the heart’s contractions are given.

Cardiomyopathy refers to progressive impairment of the structure and function of the muscular walls of the heart chambers. There are three main types of cardiomyopathy. In addition to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, there are dilated cardiomyopathy and restrictive cardiomyopathy (see also Overview of Cardiomyopathy).
The term cardiomyopathy is used only when a disorder directly affects the heart muscle. Other disorders, such as high blood pressure and abnormal heart valves (such as aortic stenosis), also can eventually cause thickened heart muscle and heart failure. However, doctors do not classify the heart muscle problems caused by those disorders as cardiomyopathies.
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a common cause of sudden death in young athletes. At least 1 in 500 people is affected.

[Hina Muqadas]

a condition in which the heart muscle becomes thicker than normal and does not relax enough for the heart to fill with blood and pump effectively