Cor Vasa 2010, 52(7-8):441-446 | DOI: 10.33678/cor.2010.118

Ventricular arrhythmias and sudden death in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

Václav Durdil

Kardiologické oddělení, Kardiovaskulární centrum, Fakultní nemocnice Motol, Praha, Česká republika

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is the most frequent hereditary heart disease. Clinical features of the disease include ventricular arrhythmias. The pathogenesis of ventricular arrhythmias in HCM is multifactorial, with less severe forms of ventricular ectopy and non-sustained ventricular tachycardia being the most common finding. A proportion of patients is at increased risk of sudden death secondary to sustained ventricular arrhythmia or ventricular fibrillation. The mainstay of care of HCM patients is identification of these groups at risk and subsequent prevention of sudden death using the implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD). Those with recurrent malignant forms of ventricular arrhythmias and frequent use of ICD are scheduled for antiarrhythmic therapy or catheter ablation.

Keywords: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy; Ventricular arrhythmias; Sudden cardiac death; Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator; Catheter ablation

Published: July 1, 2010  Show citation