Cor Vasa 2009, 51(1):38-40 | DOI: 10.33678/cor.2009.010

Sudden death risk stratification in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

Stanislava Homolová, David Zemánek, Josef Veselka^*

Kardiologické oddělení, Kardiovaskulární centrum, Fakultní nemocnice v Motole a 1. lékařská fakulta Univerzity Karlovy, Praha, Česká republika

Sudden death is the most serious manifestation of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), often occurring as the first presentation of this disease in young and asymptomatic patients. It is for this reason that sudden death risk stratification and prevention play a key role in choosing the therapeutic strategy in the HCM patient. Sudden death risk stratification has gained in importance particularly after obtaining evidence that implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) implantation is a highly effective method for sudden death prevention. At present, the established risk factors for sudden death include: 1. syncope of unclear etiology, 2. a family history of sudden death, 3. a history of cardiopulmonary resuscitation or spontaneously occurring sustained ventricular tachycardia, 4. a hypotensive response to exercise, 5. left ventricular wall hypertrophy > 30 mm, and 6. nonsustained ventricular tachycardia paroxysms. Other risk factors, currently considered only minor ones, are being gradually identified with the development of other methods of examination (primarily magnetic resonance imaging and genetic testing).

Keywords: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy; Sudden death

Published: January 1, 2009  Show citation