2011 ACCF/AHA Guideline for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

Bernard J. GershProfessor of medicine, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine

“HCM is widely misperceived as a fatal condition, but a diagnosis of HCM is not a diagnosis of sudden cardiac death. We now have effective treatments to help most patients manage the condition, although it remains the most common cause of sudden death in the young and in competitive athletes.”

“HCM has become a highly treatable disease thanks to new management strategies, but many physicians are still challenged with managing it. We took this opportunity to clarify the most important diagnostic and management strategies.”

“After 50 years, we have arrived at a different place, where this is a treatable disease, compatible with a normal life expectancy, and sometimes without the necessity of treatment because probably the vast majority of affected people live their lives without any major complications from HCM and may not even know they have it.”