What are the treatment options for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy?
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Treatment options for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) fall into three main categories. Treatment with medications such as beta blockers and calcium channel blockers aim to maximize blood flow. Other treatments aim to improve blood flow by removing a portion of the thickened heart muscle, either through an open-heart operation or by an injection through a catheter. Finally, for those at risk of dangerous erratic heart rhythms, or arrhythmias, pacemakers and implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) can be implanted into the body to help maintain a regular heart rhythm.
Treatment options for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) fall into three main categories. Treatment with medications such as beta blockers and calcium channel blockers aim to maximize blood flow. Other treatments aim to improve blood flow by removing... More -
SecondsCount.org answered:Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a form of heart disease in which the lower left chamber of the heart (the left ventricle) becomes abnormally thickened and enlarged. Treatment aims to reduce any obstruction of blood flow from the left ventricle, improve overall heart function, and maintain normal heart rhythm. Reducing the obstruction typically improves symptoms; however, it does not necessarily decrease the risk of a sudden cardiac event or death.
Treatments for HCM include:
- Medications, such as beta blockers to calm any excessive “adrenaline surges,” reduce the resting heart rate, reduce obstruction, and perhaps help prevent the development of arrhythmias. Sometimes more powerful antiarrhythmic medications, or combinations of medications, need to be used.
- Destruction of the excessive heart muscle tissue that may be blocking blood outflow using a cardiac catheterization procedure, which is performed by a specially trained cardiologist who inserts a thin, flexible tube into a blood vessel and injects alcohol into the small branch heart arteries that supply blood to the area of obstructing muscle. This causes the abnormal muscle to die while letting the rest of the heart function normally. These alcohol septal ablation procedures are not typically performed in children, but they have been shown to be effective in adults treated at experienced medical centers.
- Removal of some of the thickened heart muscles through open-heart surgery (surgical myectomy).
- Placement of an implantable cardiac defibrillator that monitors for abnormal and dangerous heart rhythms. These devices can shock the heart back to a normal rhythm if a dangerous arrhythmia develops.
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a form of heart disease in which the lower left chamber of the heart (the left ventricle) becomes abnormally thickened and enlarged. Treatment aims to reduce any obstruction of blood flow from the left ventricle,... More -
Dr. A Jamil Tajik of Aurora Health Care answered:Treatment of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (an abnormal increased thickness of the heart muscle) focuses on minimizing any symptoms, maximizing your heart’s ability to pump blood and avoiding any future complications. If you don’t have any symptoms, your health care provider may choose to watch you over time with periodic examinations. However, medications are the most common way health care providers treat hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
When medication therapy is not successful in relieving symptoms and the heart muscle thickness causes an obstruction (i.e., blood can’t be properly pumped out of the heart because the thick muscle gets in the way), alcohol septal ablation may be considered. This is an invasive procedure that is done during heart catheterization. A solution is injected into the artery that supplies blood to the thickened septum. This results in a small localized area of muscle damage, which then shrinks, decreasing the obstruction. This is now an established treatment option with satisfactory long-term effects in selected patients.
Surgical removal of a portion of the thickened muscle that is causing obstruction of blood flow is called a myectomy. Again, the goal of this procedure is to improve flow of blood out of the heart. This is considered open heart surgery, which requires longer recovery time in the hospital and at home. Since this procedure comes with more risk and recuperation time, it is reserved for patients whose heart conditions do not improve on medications alone. However, myectomy can improve symptoms and long-term results dramatically in more than 90% of patients.
Treatment of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (an abnormal increased thickness of the heart muscle) focuses on minimizing any symptoms, maximizing your heart’s ability to pump blood and avoiding any future complications. If you don’t have... More
