Key result
HCM carries a ~1% annual stroke and embolic risk, linked to older age and LA enlargement.
Why the study?
Stroke and systemic embolic events occur in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and are more common with atrial fibrillation, but the role of subclinical or first-detected AF in embolic events is unclear.
Cohort (n=593)
In patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, stroke and embolic events occur at a rate of approximately 1.0% per year, often without previously documented atrial fibrillation, with older age and left atrial dimension ≥48 mm being independent risk factors.
May inform stroke risk stratification in HCM; leaves open whether anticoagulation benefits patients without AF.
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Stroke and systemic embolic events are known to occur as complications of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), and these complications are more common in patients with accompanying atrial fibrillation (AF). The diagnosis of AF is sometimes difficult, however, and it is possible that subclinical asymptomatic paroxysmal episodes or a first episode of AF in patients without previously documented AF may lead to embolic events. We investigated the prevalence of embolic events in patients with HCM and evaluated risk factors for these events in patients without documented AF. METHODS: This study enrolled 593 patients with clinically diagnosed HCM (age at diagnosis, 51.0±15.6 years) from 1980 to 2010. RESULTS: During a mean follow-up of 10.7±7.5 years, 68 (11.5%) experienced stroke and embolic events. AF had been documented before the event in 29 (42.6%) of them. AF was documented for the first time at the time of the event in 5 (7.4%) and after the event in 10 (14.7%). Among the 431 patients without previously documented AF (39 with events and 392 without events), older age at diagnosis and left atrial dimension ≥48 mm were identified as the independent determinants of the embolic event after adjusting for sex and classic prognostic markers related to HCM. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of stroke and embolic events was about 1.0% per year in the HCM cohort. AF had not been previously documented before the event in more than half of patients with events. Older age and enlarged left atrial dimension are possible risk factors for embolic events in patients with HCM without documented AF.
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Haruki et al. (2016) conducted a cohort in Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (n=593). Older age at diagnosis and left atrial dimension ≥48 mm was evaluated on Stroke and embolic events. In patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, the incidence of stroke and embolic events was about 1.0% per year, with older age and left atrial dimension ≥48 mm identified as risk factors.
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