Background:

• Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is the most common cause of sudden, unexpected death in young healthy athletes in the United States.
• HCM causes the heart walls, primarily on the left side of the heart, to thicken without apparent cause.
• HCM is a complex and highly variable disease process that can result in important clinical consequences and premature death.
• Prevalence of HCM appears greater than once thought, 0.2 percent or one in 500 people among the general population.
• Many HCM patients live their normal lives and even achieve statistical life expectancy with little or no disability.
• The disease commonly is inherited.
• Diagnosis usually is possible with conventional echocardiographic examination.

Symptoms:

• Often there are no symptoms in younger athletes, but symptoms may show during adulthood.
• Some symptoms might include fainting, chest pain, palpitations, shortness of breath and exercise intolerance.

Treatment:

• A young person diagnosed with HCM should not engage in competitive or strenuous sports activities.
• Therapy must be tailored to particular patient subgroups and may include medications, devices (pacemakers/defibrillators), surgery or other options. B
• ecause the disease commonly is inherited, if one person in the immediate family is diagnosed with the disease, everyone in the immediate family should be screened.