Presence of Apical Aneurysm and Its Impact On Left Ventricular Mechanics
and Mechano-Energetic Coupling in Patients with Apical Hypertrophic
Cardiomyopathy Christos et al Commentary: chicken or egg?
Abstract
Mihos and coworkers present an interesting report on the impact of
apical aneurysm in patients with apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
(ApHCM). They reference the literature that shows it occurs in 10-15%
of patients with ApHCM and that its presence confers a 3-fold increase
in HCM-related death or life-saving aborted HCM-related events, and that
it is considered a marker of increased risk of sudden death1-2. Their
study shows differences in myocardial work efficiency and global wasted
work between patients with and without aneurysms. The question is
whether the aneurysm caused the differences or are the aneurysms caused
by the differences?