Clinical and Echocardiographic Particularities of Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy in a Brazilian Population and its Prognostic Impact.

Abstract

Background: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) presents echocardiographic abnormalities that are important for diagnosis and prognosis. Data are scarce in the Brazilian literature.

Objective: To assess clinical and echocardiographic characteristics and disease progression in a Brazilian cohort of patients with HCM.

Methods: This retrospective cohort included patients with HCM aged ≥ 18 years. Patients with moderate or severe aortic stenosis and those undergoing septal reduction were excluded. The significance level adopted in the statistical analysis was 5%.

Results: The study included 1244 patients, between 2010 and 2022, with a mean follow-up time of 7.7 ± 4.5 years; 53.6% of patients were men. Mean age was 54.6 ± 16.5 years, and mean left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was 65.8% ± 7.6. We observed LVEF ≤ 50% in 5.8% of patients, asymmetric form in 88.7%, and septal hypertrophy in 85.4%. We found systolic anterior motion of the mitral valve in 30.1% of patients, left ventricular outflow tract obstruction in 30.7%, and septum ≥ 28 mm in 7.2%. Only 1 patient had ventricular aneurysm. Atrial fibrillation/flutter occurred in 9.6% of patients. Overall mortality occurred in 232 patients (1.3%/year). Patients with B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) > 200 pg/ml, left atrium ≥ 45 mm, and LVEF ≤ 50% had higher mortality (p < 0.001). Age and atrial fibrillation/flutter were also associated with mortality.

Conclusions: The majority of patients had LVEF > 50%, asymmetric hypertrophy, and septal predominance. BNP, LA diameter, LVEF ≤ 50%, age, and atrial fibrillation/flutter were associated with worse prognosis.