Key result
This review outlines the pathological spectrum of left ventricular hypertrophy and associated genetic mutations to assist autopsy pathologists in evaluating sudden cardiac death.
Why the study?
Pathologists face challenges interpreting the significance of ventricular hypertrophy in sudden unexpected deaths of young people and its implications for surviving family members.
This review provides guidance for autopsy pathologists on evaluating ventricular hypertrophy and its genetic and arrhythmogenic implications in cases of sudden cardiac death.
May assist forensic pathologists in SCD evaluation; leaves open prospective validation of genetic-LVH correlations.
Ventricular hypertrophy is a common pathological finding at autopsy that can act as a substrate for arrhythmogenesis. Pathologists grapple with the significance of ventricular hypertrophy when assessing the sudden and unexpected deaths of young people and what it could mean for surviving family members. The pathological spectrum of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is reviewed herein. This article is oriented to the practicing autopsy pathologist to help make sense of various patterns of increased heart muscle, particularly those that are not clearly cardiomyopathic, yet present in the setting of sudden cardiac death. The article also reviews factors influencing arrhythmogenesis as well as genetic mutations most commonly associated with ventricular hypertrophy, especially those associated with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM).
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Cunningham et al. (2019) conducted a review in Ventricular hypertrophy and sudden cardiac death. This review outlines the pathological spectrum of left ventricular hypertrophy and associated genetic mutations to assist autopsy pathologists in evaluating sudden cardiac death.
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