Do You Know the Most Commonly Inherited Heart Disease?
Familial Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy
People often talk about your good traits. Your family friends and close relatives say that you look quite similar to your father. You might have often got this compliment from your relatives – “You look like your father, but you have your mother’s nose.”
The purpose of this discussion here is to highlight the fact that we often talk about all the good traits that we have inherited from our father, mother, grandfather, and grandmother. Ironically, we don’t talk much about the bad traits that we inherit from our father or mother. As far as any serious health issue is concerned, we assume that our lifestyle is the culprit. For instance, let us talk about heart disease. In most cases, our lifestyle is the cause, but in some cases, you cannot deny the role of your genes. This means, your heart disease could be genetic – which can pass down from your parents to you.
Here is the most common heart disease that can be inherited from one generation to the next.
Familial Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM)
Definition: In this condition, the heart muscle becomes thick (hypertrophied). When the muscle of the heart becomes hard, the heart pumps blood with force and with effort. Many people do not experience any symptoms; some people may have a few symptoms if any. Owing to these reasons, in many cases, the disease can go unnoticed or undiagnosed.
Symptoms: shortness of breath, changes in heart’s electrical activity, chest pain, irregular heartbeats (arrhythmias). A cardiologist can detect a heart murmur while examining or listening to heartbeats. Heart palpitations – a sensation of pounding, fluttering, or fast heartbeats.
The three most prominent symptoms include
- Shortness of breath during exercise
- Chest pain during exercise
- Syncope or fainting after exertion, just after exercise, or during exercise.
The cause is genetic (an inherited condition).
What are the risk factors for hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM)?
The major risk factor is genetic as the condition is passed down through genes (genetically inherited). The condition runs in families. Even if one parent has this condition, the risk of an offspring getting this condition is 50%. Genetic screening offers help for the children or siblings of a person with this condition.
Complications
The following complications may result due to HCM:
Mitral valve disease
when the valve between the left ventricle and left atrium (mitral valve) doesn’t close properly due to the thickening of muscles, blood leaks back into the left atrium. This condition is known as mitral valve regurgitation. When this happens, the symptoms can become worse.
Blocked blood flow
Thickened heart muscles block the blood flow from leaving the heart. This may result in chest pain, shortness of breath and fainting spells, and dizziness.
Irregular heartbeats or atrial fibrillations
Fast and irregular heartbeats may result due to changes in the heart’s electrical symptoms resulting from thickened heart muscles. The risk of formation of blood clots and traveling to the brain increases with atrial fibrillations. This may result in brain stroke.
Heart failure
Stiffness in the heart muscle makes it difficult for the heart to fill it with blood. The heart thus becomes weak and cannot pump enough blood to meet the demands of the body. This may result in heart failure.
Syncope or Fainting
With the sudden blockage of blood flow, fainting or syncope may result. If fainting occurs in young persons for without any known cause, then it may cause sudden cardiac death.
Sudden Cardiac Death
Sudden death can occur owing to life-threatening irregular heart rhythms as well. This can happen in people with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy when they don’t know they have it and when the life-threatening symptoms occur for the first time.
Dilated Cardiomyopathy
In some individuals with HCM, heart muscles become weak and ineffective. The ventricle enlarges (becomes dilated) and pumps blood forcefully. This may lead to dilated cardiomyopathy.
Diagnosis of Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy
Your cardiologist performs a physical examination and orders a few tests (echocardiogram, ECG, Holter monitoring, Cardiac MRI, and stress test) to diagnose hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and to rule out the other causes that cause similar symptoms. A cardiologist can detect the heart murmur while examining or listening to heartbeats with a stethoscope.
Treatment & management of HCM
Your cardiologist will set a goal for the treatment. The main objective of the treatment for people at high risk of sudden cardiac death is to relieve symptoms and to prevent potentially high-risk and life-threatening arrhythmias. Therefore, the treatment depends on the severity of the symptoms and the condition. It is, therefore, better to discuss the most suitable and appropriate treatment for your problem.
The medications that your heart specialist prescribes to you may include calcium channel blockers, beta-blockers, heart rhythm drugs, and blood thinners (to prevent blood clots if you are at risk).
An open-heart surgery called septal myectomy may be recommended if medicines do not provide any relief from symptoms. This surgery involves removing the part of the overgrown or thickened septum between the heart chambers and helps improve blood flow. The Mitral valve can also be treated during this procedure if there is a problem with your mitral valve (regurgitation).
Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD)
Interventional cardiologists implant a small device, just like they implant a pacemaker in the chest. An Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator device (ICD) monitors the heartbeat continuously. It restores heart rhythm to its normal state by delivering a precisely calibrated electrical shock if a life-threatening arrhythmia occurs. This device is very helpful in some people with familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and who are at risk of sudden cardiac death.
If you have any concerns regarding inherited heart diseases, consult Dr. Sarat Chandra for accurate diagnosis and prompt treatment
