TIME.com: Understanding 4 of the Most Common Complications of Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy
TIME.com recently interviewed cardiologist Michelle Kittleson, MD, PhD, director of Heart Failure Research and director of Post Graduate Medical Education in Heart Failure and Transplantation in the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai, about complications associated with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a common genetic heart condition.
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy causes the walls of the heart muscle to thicken, making it difficult for the heart to pump blood. This chronic condition can lead to serious complications such as heart failure and sudden cardiac death—when an electrical circuit in the heart malfunctions, causing the heart to stop beating. Patients with the disease can also develop heart rhythm disorders such as atrial fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia.
Kittleson told TIME.com patients with advanced ventricular tachycardia may need an implantable defibrillator, “a special pacemaker-like device to monitor the heart for dangerous arrhythmias and deliver an electric shock to reset the heart to a normal rhythm if they occur.”
However, ventricular fibrillation—a more severe abnormal heart rhythm, or arrhythmia—requires immediate medical help.
“Ventricular arrhythmias are more dangerous because they can cause sudden cardiac death, as the heart cannot pump efficiently and no blood gets into the body,” Kittleson told TIME.com.
Despite these serious complications, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is manageable. And as many as half of people with the disease do not experience any symptoms.
“[Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy] is not a death sentence,” Kittleson told TIME.com. “With current methods of diagnosis, evaluation and treatment, survival is comparable to that of the general population. With proper management, patients can live full and healthy lives.”
Click here to read the complete article from TIME.com.