Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy
- Alisha S
- Dec 28, 2022
- 3 min read
Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, say that in a crowd and I can guarantee that you’ll be seen as some kind of intellectual. But what really is this condition that usually goes misdiagnosed? This condition that is only found in one and 500 people?
I was 9 years old when I heard of this condition. Caleb Leblanc, the eldest child of the famous Youtube family, Bratayley. It was October 1, 2015, when Caleb, at 13 years old, took his last breath. When his parents announced his death on social media, I felt my heart physically break. A boy on Youtube who had such a long life ahead of him, gone. Though I knew I would never meet him, he made my day just from a Youtube video. Millions of people would watch their videos, just for his lively and hilarious spirit. He was a whole generation’s sunshine. Just earlier he made a video asking his future self questions. I was in complete shock and denial, but I knew I wasn’t alone. Their millions of followers were all in shock as well. The thought that a seemingly healthy boy could be alive and well one second and gone the next, baffled me. It was the first time I realized that anyone can die at any age and time. I searched and searched for what could’ve been the cause of his death. Eventually I found it. Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. For a 9 year old, I was quite proud of myself for being able to pronounce that. I had no idea what this condition was, but the one thing that stuck with me when learning about it was that it usually goes undiagnosed or misdiagnosed, and that’s what might be the scariest part. The fact that you could have it and not know, and have your life taken away as quickly as Caleb did. But what really is this condition?
Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM), or Hypertrophic Obstructive Cardiomyopathy (HOCM), is a condition that occurs in one in 500 people, and is estimated to affect 600,000 to 1.5 million Americans. It is a condition that causes the heart muscles to thicken which makes it harder for the heart to pump blood. This normally affects the interventricular septum and the ventricles. This condition can be inherited. This can also cause obstruction of blood as it exits the heart. HCM is a bit difficult to diagnose, and can be seen through ECG’s and cardiac MRI’s, and other things like Echo’s. This condition is actually the leading cause of sudden cardiac arrest deaths of young athletes and the most common genetic cardiovascular disorder in the United States. The reason why many people die of HCM could be because many people who have this disease are asymptomatic, or if there are symptoms, there could be very non-alarming ones, such as shortness of breath, leg swelling, and lightheadedness. Seeing as many of the people who end up passing away due to this condition are athletes, these symptoms may be seen as something else. Lightheadedness could be seen as them being dehydrated, instead of a heart condition, and leg swelling could be seen as an injury instead. There are quite a few treatments out there for this condition. There are medications, like Beta blockers, verapamil, disopyramide, and diuretics. Besides these medications, there are also surgeries. There is a Septal myectomy, which is an open-heart operation, and there is also the option of getting a transplant, if none of these are working. There are also pacemakers, and a mitral clip. Introduced in 1994 by Ulrich Sigwart, there is a technique called Alcohol Septal ablation, which involves injecting alcohol into one or more septal branches of the left anterior descending artery. This technique induces a controlled heart attack.
Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy is a condition that can affect anyone and everyone, so make sure to keep your heart in mind. If experiencing any symptoms, it’s recommended that you get checked out. Better safe than sorry.
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