Overview

What is Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy?

HCM is a disease in which the heart's muscle is abnormal, becoming thickened or hypertrophied. Because of that thickening, this may make it harder for the heart to pump blood. Many patients diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy are unaware that they have the disease since they have no symptoms. Some affected patients with HCM might have obvious symptoms; these include shortness of breath and pain in the chest due to the thickening of their heart muscle. In addition, at some point in life, even the electrical system of a patient's heart can be affected, which may cause fatal arrhythmias or even abrupt death.

What are the symptoms of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy?

Common symptoms and signs of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy include:

Shortness of breath
Trouble breathing, especially when exerting
Weak, tired, or sleepy feeling
Chest discomfort, pressure, or pain
Heart racing or pounding in the chest. Fast or irregular heartbeats
Swelling of legs, ankles, or abdominal area
Dizziness or fainting, Loss of consciousness

What causes Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy?

Genetic alterations in the thickness of the heart muscle typically cause hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. This condition is typically caused by the destruction of the partition that separates the two lower chambers of the heart. The name given to this type of partition is the septum. The chambers are called ventricles. The thicker partition may often obstruct the inflow of blood into the heart. This is known as hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy.

If the inflow of blood cannot be established as obstructed, this is known as non-obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

The largest pumping chamber in the heart is the left ventricle; however, it can also become stiff. Because of this stiffness, the heart becomes sensitive to untwisting. Due to this stiffness, the amount of blood the ventricle can hold and pump to the body with each heartbeat also decreases.

In patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, the heart muscle cells change in arrangement. We call this myofiber disarray. It can cause erratic heartbeats in some.

What are the diagnosis and tests for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy?

A doctor examines you and listens to your heartbeat with his stethoscope. Listening with your ear to the heartbeat, a murmur is detected. Ideally, a provider would ask you a few questions about your family history, illnesses, or symptoms. But you might need heritable testing or reassurance if there's some known family history of this condition.

Tests are done to view the heart and find where these symptoms originated.

Blood tests.
ECG or electrocardiogram.
Chest X-ray.
Stress echo test.
Catheterization of the heart.

What is the treatment plan for cardiomyopathy with hypertrophy?

The treatment is according to the severity of the disease as well as the symptoms presented in HCM.

It often includes specific details with procedures.

Medications-

Beta-blockers and calcium channel blockers- These details reduce the relaxation of the cardiac muscle to achieve a perfect inflow of blood.
Antiarrhythmic drugs- These details act to regulate irregular heartbeat. Blood thinners are used to ensure that the breakdown of blood clots is not hindered, mainly in atrial fibrillation.
Mavacamten- It is one of the new drugs, which fundamentally is meant to lower the stiffness of the heart muscle.

Procedure-

Primarily, HCM is a disorder in which the muscle of the heart gets thickened to an abnormal level that may limit blood flow. In general, the objective of the procedures is to reduce such obstructions and also to promote heart functioning.

Septal Myectomy- In septal myectomy, your surgeon will remove a small portion of your thicker septum wall so that the width of the outflow tract of your blood running from your left ventricle to your aorta will be increased. But they might consider doing that if your doctor feels that the drug is not effective. Often, this technique settles the situation of the mitral valve.
Ethanol ablation- Smaller patients who cannot undergo a septal myectomy are considered for this therapy, known as septal ablation. In this procedure, your doctor locates the small coronary artery that supplies blood to the top of your septum. This is then subjected to an inflated balloon catheter in the artery. Later, an agent is placed across the gap to guide them to the thicker septal wall, narrowing between the left ventricle and the aorta. Your doctor will inject small quantities of pure alcohol through a catheter once the bulge is located. During the following months, your septum will retract to its normal size as the alcohol kills the cells on contact and creates space for further blood to flow.
Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator( ICD)- It does not specifically work on stiffened heart muscle, but still, an ICD is implanted in those patients who may be at risk of life-threatening irregular heart measures (arrhythmias). The ICD follows the rhythm of the heart and seeks to normalize the abnormal measures through electric shocks if that is what the situation demands.
(VAD)A ventricular assist device- It is used rarely, even to treat hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with this implanted device. It promotes the flow of blood toward the heart.
Heart transplant- In this condition, the diseased heart is replaced by a normal heart from an appropriate donor. Generally, in end-stage heart failure, it can be an option for treatment when other drugs and therapies are ineffective.

Living With

In what ways might hypertrophic cardiomyopathy make my life better?

Even though hypertrophic cardiomyopathy can be pretty troublesome to handle, proper treatment and lifestyle modifications help you significantly improve the quality of your life. Here are some valuable tips for you:

Lifestyle changes:

Talk to your doctor about an appropriate exercise regimen.

Regular exercise benefits heart health. Being of good weight reduces the workload on the heart.
A low-saturated-fat, sodium diet helps control heart health.
Knowledge about HCM will enable you to know and understand your condition and make the best choices.
Avoid strenuous training
Discuss physical training with the physician, who can guide you.
Control of other medical conditions, such as hypertension
You can reduce the risk of contagious endocarditis by observing preventive dental health.

Why Tender Palm Super-Speciality Hospital for Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy?

Tender Palm Hospital has the most experienced team of Cardiologists, Cardiac Surgeons, and diagnostics with the latest and International standard infection control measures in Lucknow, India. The Cardiac Science Centre team has decades of experience in successfully treating Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.