CORRESPONDENCE: LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Left Ventricular Mass and the Outcome of Patients With Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy
Ze-Zhou Song, MS*
* Department of Ultrasound, The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, 79 Qingchun Road, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province 310003, Peoples Republic of China (Email: zezhou_song{at}126.com).
I read with great interest the study by Olivotto et al. (1), which concluded that the left ventricular (LV) mass by cardiovascular magnetic resonance proved more sensitive than a maximal LV thickness  30 mm in predicting outcome of patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. However, as stated in an Editorial Comment by Reichek (2), the number of cardiac deaths in the study was small. In other words, LV mass by cardiovascular magnetic resonance did not prove more sensitive in predicting outcome in the presently enrolled patients. What happened when the authors chose other end points such as progression to severe functional limitation (New York Heart Association functional class III or IV) and/or sustained, life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias requiring the implantation of a cardioverter-defibrillator that are used for the entire cohort of patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy as previously described (3)? If the aforementioned end points were chosen, did LV mass prove more sensitive than a maximal LV thickness 30 mm in predicting the outcome of patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy? In addition, what were the causes of death in the study by Olivotto et al. (1)?
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Footnotes
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Please note: The author would like to thank the Editors of JACC for the opportunity to ask these questions about such an important article.
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References
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1. Olivotto I, Maron MS, Autore C, et al. Assessment and significance of left ventricular mass by cardiovascular magnetic resonance in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy J Am Coll Cardiol 2008;52:559-566.[Abstract/Free Full Text]2. Reichek N. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: cardiac magnetic resonance imaging changes the paradigm J Am Coll Cardiol 2008;52:567-568.[Free Full Text] 3. Olivotto I, Gistri R, Petrone P, Pedemonte E, Vargiu D, Cecchi F. Maximum left ventricular thickness and risk of sudden death in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy J Am Coll Cardiol 2003;41:315-321.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
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- Iacopo Olivotto, Martin S. Maron, Franco Cecchi, and Barry J. Maron
J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. 2009 53: 399.
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