UR Medicine Cardiac Care
Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a complex inherited heart disease affecting the heart muscle. The genetic abnormality causes abnormal thick or stiff heart muscle, leading your heart to pump harder against the thickened muscle. It also leads to heart rhythm problems and heart valve disease.
HCM is usually an inherited disease, although other problems such as high blood pressure, thyroid disease, and aging may also play a role. The disease may cause symptoms at a young age, or may develop slowly over time. It is most commonly identified when a heart murmur is heard during a physical exam.
HCM leads to two separate problems:
Some patients may not have symptoms, or may have only mild symptoms, when they are diagnosed. Some symptoms you may experience include:
Because HCM is an inherited disease, family members of HCM patients are recommended to undergo screening for the condition with an echocardiogram every several years. There is also a role for genetic testing. Our center is experienced in counseling family members who are navigating screening for HCM.
Alcohol septal ablation may be suitable for patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). UR Medicine’s Strong Memorial Hospital is one of the few hospitals in the country that provides this specialized procedure that shrinks part of the thickened wall of the heart. Our team has been performing alcohol septal ablations since 2001, and has done over 200 cases, making us one of the most experienced teams in the country.
Alcohol septal ablation is a minimally invasive procedure performed by an interventional cardiologist. Ablation is done by injecting alcohol into the blood vessel feeding the thickened portion of the heart muscle that is blocking blood flow. Over several minutes, the alcohol injection results in long-term shrinking of the over-thickened septum. Some patients may receive an implantable loop recorder or defibrillator after the procedure because of the risk of dangerous heart rhythms.
If you have symptoms or have been diagnosed with structural heart disease,
call our team at
(585) 276-6339