Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2019 Aug 19;4(3):223-240.
doi: 10.1080/20961790.2019.1633761. eCollection 2019.

Evaluation of cardiac hypertrophy in the setting of sudden cardiac death

Kristopher S Cunningham  1 , Danna A Spears  2 , Melanie Care  3
Affiliations
Review

Evaluation of cardiac hypertrophy in the setting of sudden cardiac death

Kristopher S Cunningham et al. Forensic Sci Res. .

Abstract

Ventricular hypertrophy is a common pathological finding at autopsy that can act as a substrate for arrhythmogenesis. Pathologists grapple with the significance of ventricular hypertrophy when assessing the sudden and unexpected deaths of young people and what it could mean for surviving family members. The pathological spectrum of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is reviewed herein. This article is oriented to the practicing autopsy pathologist to help make sense of various patterns of increased heart muscle, particularly those that are not clearly cardiomyopathic, yet present in the setting of sudden cardiac death. The article also reviews factors influencing arrhythmogenesis as well as genetic mutations most commonly associated with ventricular hypertrophy, especially those associated with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM).

Keywords: Forensic sciences; arrhythmia; forensic pathology; genetics; sudden cardiac death; ventricular hypertrophy.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Shenasa M, Shenasa H, El-Sherif N. Left ventricular hypertrophy and arrhythmogenesis. Card Electrophysiol Clin. 2015;7:207–220. - PubMed
    1. Alpert MA, Karthikeyan K, Abdullah O, et al. . Obesity and cardiac remodeling in adults: mechanisms and clinical implications. Progr Cardiovasc Dis. 2018;61:114–123. - PubMed
    1. de Roij van Zuijdewijn CL, Hansildaar R, Bots ML, et al. . Eccentric left ventricular hypertrophy and sudden death in patients with end-stage kidney disease. Am J Nephrol. 2015;42:126–133. - PubMed
    1. Katz AM, Rolett EL. Heart failure: when form fails to follow function. Eur Heart J. 2016;37:449–454. - PubMed
    1. Moss and Adams' heart disease in infants, children and adolescents. 7th ed Philadelphia (PA): Lippincott Williams and Wilkins; 2008.