Usefulness of Noninvasive Detection of Left Ventricular Diastolic Abnormalities During Isometric Stress in Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy and in Athletes

We showed previously that the handgrip apexcardiographic test (HAT) is a useful method for detecting left ventricular (LV) diastolic abnormalities in patients with coronary artery disease and systemic hypertension. This study evaluates the use of HAT for assessing the prevalence and types of exercise-induced diastolic abnormalities in patients with obstructive (n = 31) and nonobstructive (n = 35) hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HC) as well as its potential value for separating healthy subjects and athletes from patients with HC. We obtained a HAT in 66 consecutive patients with HC and in 72 controls (52 healthy volunteers and 20 athletes). A positive HAT was defined by the presence of one of the following: (1) relative A wave to total height (A/H) during or after handgrip >21% (compliance type), (2) total apexcardiographic relaxation time (TART) >143 ms or the heart rate corrected TART (TARTI) during handgrip <0.14, (relaxation type), (3) both types present (mixed type), and (4) diastolic amplitude time index (DATI = TARTI/[A/D]) during handgrip <0.27. Of the controls, only 1 of 52 healthy subjects and 1 of 20 athletes showed a positive HAT, whereas of the total HC cohort 63 of 66 patients (95%) had a positive result. There was no significant difference in the distribution of these types between obstructive and nonobstructive HC. Further, no LV diastolic abnormalities were present in 10 of 35 patients (29%) with nonobstructive HC at rest and in 3 of 35 patients (9%) during handgrip, whereas of the patients with obstructive HC only 1 of 31 (3%) had no LV diastolic abnormalities at rest and none during handgrip. Based on HAT data, our study demonstrates that in HC (1) LV diastolic abnormalities are very frequent during handgrip; (2) patients with nonobstructive HC show significantly fewer LV diastolic abnormalities at rest than those with obstructive HC; and (3) no significant difference exists between obstructive and nonobstructive HC in the prevalence of types of handgrip-induced LV diastolic abnormalities. Consequently, HAT appears to be of clinical value as an additional tool for separating normal patients and athletes from patients with HC.