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Causes
By Mayo Clinic staffHypertrophic cardiomyopathy is usually caused by gene mutations. It's thought these mutations cause the heart muscle to grow abnormally thick. People with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy also have an abnormal arrangement of heart muscle fibers. The heart muscle cells become jumbled, known as myofiber disarray. This disarray can contribute to an irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia) in some people.
The severity of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy varies widely. Most people with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy have a form of the disease in which the wall (septum) between the two bottom chambers of the heart (the ventricles) becomes enlarged and obstructs blood flow. This is sometimes referred to as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with obstruction or hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy.
Sometimes hypertrophic cardiomyopathy occurs without significant obstruction of blood flow. However, the heart's main pumping chamber (the left ventricle) may become stiff, which reduces how much blood the ventricle can hold and how much blood gets pumped out to the body with each contraction. Doctors sometimes refer to this as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy without obstruction or nonobstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
- Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. American Heart Association. http://www.heart.org/idc/groups/heart-public/@wcm/@hcm/documents/downloadable/ucm_312225.pdf. Accessed Dec. 7, 2010.
- Elliot PM. Clinical manifestations of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Dec. 7, 2010.
- Gemignani AS, et al. Cardiomyopathy, hypertrophic. In: Ferri FF. Ferri's Clinical Advisor 2011: Instant Diagnosis and Treatment. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby Elsevier; 2011. http://www.mdconsult.com/books/page.do?eid=4-u1.0-B978-0-323-05610-6..00012-3--sc23005&isbn=978-0-323-05610-6&type=bookPage§ionEid=4-u1.0-B978-0-323-05610-6..00012-3--sc23005&uniqId=228752326-3. Accessed Dec. 7, 2010.
- Maron BJ. The 2009 International Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Summit. The American Journal of Cardiology. 2010;105:1164.
- Elliot PM. Diagnosis and evaluation of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Dec. 7, 2010.
- Maron BJ. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Circulation. 2002; 106:2419.
- Grogan M (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Dec. 12, 2010.
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