Re: hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

Posted By CCF CARDIO MD - DLB on August 29, 1998 at 12:12:16:

In Reply to: hypertrophic cardiomyopathy posted by Patrick on August 29, 1998 at 09:16:19:






I recently had my yearly echo which indicated that my septum had increased in thickness to 1.9 CM.  I have absolutely no symptoms and regularly bike 50 to 60 miles at a time. I was wondering at what septal thickness do you generally become symptomatic.  I have a resting gradiant of 10.  Thank you for providing this service.  Patrick
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Dear Patrick
With hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, there is no specific wall thickness at which you become symptomatic. Many patients with the wall thickness you list are already symptomatic. It is unclear to me from your question whether you just have cardiac hypertrophy (an enlarged, thickened heart) or HOCM (hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy). With HOCM, the average wall thickness is 2.0 cm. In HOCM, the gradient at rest is important, but when it is relatively low (such as 10 mmHg) it can be useful to use provocative measures in the echocardiographic laboratory to see if the gradient increases. In addition, the amount of mitral regurgitation is important. Age is also an important factor is predicting prognosis, as is family history of the disease. Your very good exercise capacity is a good sign. Fainting can be an ominous sign in patients with HOCM.
I hope this is useful. Feel free to write back. I wish you the best of luck.
If you would like to set up an appointment with one of our cardiologists here at the Cleveland Clinic please feel free to call 1-800-CCF-CARE.
Information provided in the Heart Forum is intended for general medical informational purposes only. Actual diagnosis and treatment of any particular medical condition can only be made by your physician(s).