Relevance of coronary microvascular flow impairment to long-term remodeling and systolic dysfunction in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Objectives: This study sought to evaluate whether the entity of microvascular dysfunction, assessed by positron emission tomography (PET), predicts the long-term development of left ventricular (LV) remodeling and systolic dysfunction in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM).

Background: A subgroup of patients with HCM developed LV dilation and systolic impairment. A causal role of coronary microvascular dysfunction has been suggested as the underlying pathophysiological mechanism.

Coronary microvascular dysfunction and prognosis in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Background: Microvascular dysfunction, reflected by an inadequate increase in myocardial blood flow in response to dipyridamole infusion, is a recognized feature of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Its long-term effect on the prognosis is unknown. We prospectively evaluated a cohort of patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy after they had undergone quantitative assessment of myocardial blood flow by positron-emission tomography (PET).