Cardiovascular Ultrasound

official impact factor 1.56
Search for
Advanced search
Cardiovascular Ultrasound
Tools
Share this article
Open Access Research

Prevalence of suspected hypertrophic cardiomyopathy or left ventricular hypertrophy based on race and gender in teenagers using screening echocardiography

Mohammad R Movahed1,2*, Deborah Strootman1, Sharon Bates3 and Sudhakar Sattur1

Author Affiliations

1 Sarver Heart Center, University of Arizona College of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, 1501 N Campbell Avenue, Tucson, Arizona, USA

2 The Southern Arizona VA Health Care System, Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Cardiology (1-111C), 3601 South Sixth Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85723, USA

3 Anthony Bates Foundation, 428 E. Thunderbird, #633, Phoenix, AZ 85022, USA

For all author emails, please log on.

Cardiovascular Ultrasound 2010, 8:54 doi:10.1186/1476-7120-8-54

Published: 10 December 2010

Abstract

Background

The goal of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of suspected hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) in a population of teenagers undergoing screening echocardiography for the detection of HCM.

Method

The Anthony Bates Foundation performs screening echocardiography for the prevention of sudden death. A total of 2,066 students were studied between the ages of 13 to 19 years. Suspected HCM was defined as any wall thickness ≥ 15 mm. LVH was defined as wall thickness ≥ 13 mm

Results

Prevalence of suspected HCM was 0.7% (14/2066). After adjusting for hypertension (HTN), the total prevalence was 0.5% (8/1457). In a subgroup analysis, 551 teenagers with documented race and LV wall thickness were identified between the ages of 13 - 19 years. African American teenagers [6% (3/50)] had higher prevalence of suspected HCM [0.8% (4/501), OR 7.93, CI 1.72-36.49, p = 0.002]. After multivariate adjustment for age, gender, BMI and HTN (systolic BP >140 and diastolic BP of > 90), African American race remained independently associated with suspected HCM (OR 4.89, CI 1.24-39.62, p = 0.02).

Conclusion

The prevalence of suspected HCM in young teenagers is approximately 0.2%. This prevalence appears to be higher in African Americans. However, due to small number of African Americans in our population, our result needs to be confirmed in larger trials.