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Published on: September 9, 2020
Management strategy in 249 consecutive patients with obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy referred to a dedicated
Richard D Rothman1, Aaron L Baggish, Caitlin O'Callaghan
1Cardiology Division, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, USA. rrothman@partners.org
Insights
Conservative management successfully resolves symptoms in over a third of obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy patients, avoiding the need for septal reduction therapy. Key predictors of failure include advanced New York Heart Association class and increased septal wall thickness.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Internal Medicine
Background:
- Obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HC) management often involves septal reduction therapy (SRT).
- The success rates and failure predictors of conservative management for obstructive HC are not well-established.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the efficacy of conservative management strategies for symptomatic obstructive HC.
- To identify predictors of failed conservative therapy in patients with obstructive HC.
Main Methods:
- A cohort of 249 symptomatic obstructive HC patients were analyzed.
- Follow-up assessed symptom resolution with optimized medical therapy (beta-blockers, calcium channel blockers, disopyramide) and pacing.
- Multivariate analysis identified predictors of conservative therapy failure.
Main Results:
- Conservative therapy successfully resolved symptoms in over one-third of patients over a 3.7-year follow-up.
- New York Heart Association class III/IV symptoms and greater septal wall thickness predicted conservative therapy failure.
- 60% of patients not requiring immediate SRT were free from SRT recommendation at follow-up.
Conclusions:
- Optimized conservative therapy is effective in managing symptoms for a significant portion of obstructive HC patients, potentially obviating the need for SRT.
- Clinicians should prioritize optimizing conservative medical management before considering SRT for obstructive HC.
Abstract:
The likelihood of success of conservative management of obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HC) and the predictors of failure of conservative therapy are not known. We therefore evaluated the efficacy of an algorithm for the management of symptoms and predictors of failed conservative therapy in 249 consecutive symptomatic patients with obstructive HC referred to a dedicated HC program for management in general or for septal reduction therapy (SRT) in particular. There was considerable practice variation in the extent to which conservative therapy was optimized before referral for SRT. Over 3.7 ± 2.9-year follow-up, symptoms resolved with addition of or increase in dosage of a β blocker, calcium channel blocker, or disopyramide in 16%, 10%, and 10% of patients, respectively. Pacing with short atrioventricular delay controlled symptoms in 4 of 9 patients. In 63% of patients, conservative measures failed to control symptoms. Multivariate predictors of failure of conservative therapy were presence of New York Heart Association class III or IV symptoms (hazard ratio 2.0, 95% confidence interval 1.4 to 2.9, p = 0.001) and greater septal wall thickness (hazard ratio 1.06, 95% confidence interval 1.02 to 1.10, p = 0.003) at presentation. At time of presentation, 93 patients (37%) were already on optimal therapy and were referred for SRT. Of the remaining 156 patients who did not require immediate SRT, 93 (60%) were free from a recommendation for SRT at the end of the follow-up period. In conclusion, in symptomatic patients with obstructive HC, conservative therapy is successful in >1/3 of referred patients at 3.7-year follow-up, obviating SRT in these patients. Clinicians in programs offering SRT should optimize conservative therapy before recommending SRT.
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