CHENNAI: Though there is an advancement in medical diagnosis and treatment, still most people are not aware of a hereditary condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, where a part of heart becomes thick and affects its functioning causing sudden death in majority of cases, say experts.
Patients with this condition are often misdiagnosed for sudden cardiac arrest, which is not true. This condition takes a long time to manifest as a life-threatening problem. This condition can be diagnosed early and treated.
One in 500 people carries the gene and the chance of parents passing the gene to the children is one in two, but still many ignore the symptoms of this condition that lead to sudden death, says Dr Seshadri Balaji, professor of pediatrics (cardiology), Oregon Health and Science University.
Giddiness, tiredness and vomiting are the common symptoms of this condition, but most of them ignore these early signs that lead to death. Since this is a hereditary problem, people should do regular check-ups.
Most of the studies done in western countries have shown that 50 per cent people had shown symptoms of heart disease but failed to get diagnosed, added Dr Seshadri, Speaking to Express on the sidelines of the conference on electrophysiology organised by the Cardiological Society of India, he said, “Though the infant carries the gene, it takes a very long time in some cases to develop this as a problem. When a person dies in his late 30’s, it could be of the hypertrophic cardiomyopathy condition. This is true in majority of the cases,.”
The two-day conference will also focus on latest treatments in treating electrical signals defect in the heart muscle. The one such new technology is 3D mapping of the heart by which all heart problems can be detected minutely, added Dr T R Muralidharan, secretary of the organising committee of the conference.
The conference and the executive committee of the Tamil Nadu Electrophysiology Council annual meeting was inaugurated by Governor Dr K Rosiah on Saturday.