Clinical History of Patients with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy—How to Improve the Initiation Process of the Diagnosis?

Abstract

Background: Regardless of genetic origin and recommended screening methods, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is commonly diagnosed late in the advanced stages of the disease. The aim of this study was to analyse the case history of patients with HCM in order to obtain an initiation of the diagnostic process. Methods: This study was a retrospective, tertiary, single-centre cohort analysis of 85 consecutive pts with HCM (mean age at the time of HCM diagnosis: 51 ± 15 years; F/M: 42/43) who were hospitalized during the period from 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2022. Type of referral to the hospital, the reason for hospitalization as well as accompanying symptoms, comorbidities, and family history were analysed to obtain an initiation of the diagnostic process. The analysis was limited to hospitalizations in which the diagnosis of HCM was stated for the first time. Results: An analysis of the type of referral to the hospital revealed the following data: 18% of patients were admitted as urgent hospitalizations (UHs) and 82% as elective hospitalizations (EHs). Among the UHs, the majority of patients were transferred from another hospital (13%), and among the EHs, 65% of patients were referred from a specialised outpatient medical care (SMC) facility. The majority of patients in both the UH and EH groups were symptomatic: 84% in the EH group (the most common symptom was exertional dyspnea in 56% of pts) and 93% in the UH group (the most common symptom was syncope in 60% of pts). Among the analysed population, the most frequent comorbidities were systemic hypertension (51%), lipid metabolism disorders (38%) and obesity (23%). Conclusions: A diagnosis of HCM is often made at an advanced age in symptomatic patients, mainly during an EH. Nearly one-fifth of the Polish HCM population is diagnosed during a UH after a sudden event, which suggests the need for improvements in medical care in Poland.