Re: Hypertrophic Obstructive Cardiomyopathy

Posted By CCF CARDIO MD - DLB on January 13, 1999 at 09:54:14:

In Reply to: Hypertrophic Obstructive Cardiomyopathy posted by Mike on January 12, 1999 at 20:02:09:






I recently had a 48 hour holter monitor done and have just received the report.  I was diagnosed with HOCM many years ago and have been very stable.  I have yearly echos with no real problems.  In the report's conclusions it mentions lateral myocardial infarction.  I have never had a heart attack to the best of my knowledge and have normal coronary arteries.  Could you explain what that means.  Thank you
Dear Mike
A lateral wall myocardial infarction means a heart attack involving death of the muscle in the lateral wall of the heart's main pumping chamber. You should talk to your cardiologist about this. I suspect that the EKG is incorrect - patients with HOCM commonly can have EKGs that look like they have had a heart attack, when in fact they have not had even a small heart attack. The EKG sort of gets fooled by the HOCM.
I hope this has been useful. I wish you the best of luck.
If you would like to make an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center, please call 1-800-CCF-CARE or inquire online by using the Heart Center website at www.ccf.org/heartcenter.   The Heart Center website contains a directory of the cardiology staff that can be used to select the physician best suited to address your cardiac problem.