Management Implications of Massive Left Ventricular Hypertrophy in Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Significantly Underestimated by Echocardiography but Identified by Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance

Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) is a high spatial resolution, 3-dimensional tomographic imaging technique which may identify regions of massive left ventricular hypertrophy (particularly when confined to the anterolateral free wall) in which the extent of wall thickness is underestimated with traditional 2-dimensional echocardiography in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HC). This observation may have potential implications on management strategies as extreme left ventricular hypertrophy is a primary risk factor for sudden death in HC and therefore supports an expanding role for CMR in the evaluation of HC patients.