Sudden cardiac death in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: from bench to bedside with an emphasis on genetic markers.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is the most common cause of death in the young, particularly in young competitive athletes. Death often occurs suddenly in asymptomatic, apparently healthy individuals. Several clinical parameters as well as genetic factors have been characterized that can identify those HCM patients who are at high risk for sudden cardiac death (SCD). The clinical parameters that have some predictive values for SCD in HCM patients are the following: a prior history of SCD, a family history of SCD, history of syncope, symptomatic ventricular tachycardia on Holter monitoring, inducible ventricular tachycardia during electrophysiologic studies, and myocardial ischemia in children with HCM. Recent identification of mutations in the beta myosin heavy chain gene and genotype-phenotype correlation in HCM patients have shown that the beta myosin heavy chain mutations are also prognosticators in HCM families. Several mutations such as Arg403Gln and Arg719Gln are associated with a high incidence of SCD, while Leu908Val mutation is associated with a benign course and a low incidence of SCD in HCM families. Additional genetic factors such as a polymorphism in angiotensin-converting enzyme I gene may also contribute to a high incidence of SCD in HCM families. Identification and characterization of HCM patients at high risk for SCD provide the opportunity to render prophylactic therapeutic interventions, such as implantation of defibrillators, in these individuals.