ABSTRACT
HCM is the commonest inherited heart disease, affecting 1 in 500 people worldwide. It is caused by mutations encoding sarcomeric proteins, and is inherited in an autosomal dominant pattern. The condition classically presents with symptoms in the late teens or early adulthood, usually exertional breathlessness, syncope or palpitations. However, the diagnosis is often made after the incidental finding of a murmur or abnormal ECG. Increasingly the diagnosis is made through family or pre-participation sports screening.
