[Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy manifesting different modes of illness: report of three cases].
Three cases of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) which presented with different modes of appearance of left ventricular hypertrophy are reported. Case 1: A 24-year-old man had three relatives with HCM. At 13 years of age, he showed no electrocardiographic or echocardiographic abnormalities characteristic of HCM. During the ensuing 11 years, he developed asymmetric septal hypertrophy (ASH) and systolic anterior motion of the mitral valve (SAM), with right bundle branch block and T-wave inversion. Cardiac catheterization confirmed the diagnosis of hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy by demonstrating an intraventricular pressure gradient of 25 mmHg. These observations indicate that this case developed abnormal hypertrophy during adolescence on the basis of genetic predisposition of an autosomal dominant trait. Case 2: A 51-year-old woman had three proven and three possibly affected relatives. At 35 years of age, she had a normal electrocardiogram, although the echocardiogram was not available. Now, 16 years later, she had developed ASH with abnormal Q-waves and was diagnosed as having non-obstructive HCM. These suggest that ASH can be manifested as late as during middle-age, even in those with genetic predisposition. Case 3: A 47-year-old woman was diagnosed as having hypertension and her blood pressure was 190/100 mmHg at 40 years of age, though she had no abnormal electrocardiographic findings and heart murmurs. Now, at 47 years of age, she had developed T-wave inversion, ASH, SAM, and an intraventricular pressure gradient of 50 mmHg. Thus, her ASH appeared during middle-age, and was probably provoked by hypertension, though a complete family survey could not be conducted. These three patients' findings indicate that there may be various modes of appearance of left ventricular hypertrophy in HCM. In the majority of patients with genetic predisposition, abnormal hypertrophy may develop during adolescence as in Case 1. In others, it may develop in middle-age, as it did in Case 2. The disease spectrum of HCM may additionally include those who develop abnormal hypertrophy during middle-age, following provocation by hypertension, as in Case 3.
Third Department of Medicine, Kurume University School of Medicine.
M
M
Shida
Y
Y
Miyazaki
K
K
Matsuyama
G
G
Iwami
M
M
Ooga
M
M
Chiba
Y
Y
Furuta
H
H
Toshima
Y
Y
Koga
D000328:Adult; D006328:Cardiac Catheterization; D002312:Cardiomyopathy, Hypertrophic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000235:genetics; D004452:Echocardiography; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged