The hearts of patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) show structural abnormalities other than isolated wall thickening. Recently, adult HCM patients have been found to have longer mitral valve leaflets than control subjects. The aim of the current study was to assess whether children and adolescents with HCM have similar measureable differences in mitral valve leaflet dimensions when compared to a healthy control group. Clinical and echocardiographic data from 46 children with myocardial hypertrophy and a phenotype and/or genotype consistent with sarcomeric HCM were reviewed. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging studies were evaluated. The anterior and posterior mitral valve leaflet lengths and myocardial structure were compared to 20 healthy controls. The anterior mitral valve was longer in the HCM group than in the control group (28.4 ± 4.9 vs. 25.2 ± 3.6 mm in control patients, p = 0.013) as was the posterior mitral valve leaflet (16.3 ± 3.0 vs. 13.1 ± 2.3 mm for controls <0.0001). There was no correlation between the resting left ventricular outflow tract gradient and anterior mitral valve leaflet length, nor was the anterior mitral valve leaflet longer in those with systolic anterior motion of the mitral valve compared to those without (28.9 ± 6.1 vs. 28.1 ± 4.5 mm, p = 0.61). Children and adolescents with HCM have abnormally long mitral valve leaflets when compared with healthy control subjects. These abnormalities do not appear to result in, or be due to, obstruction to left ventricular outflow. The mechanism of this mitral valve elongation is not clear but appears to be independent of hemodynamic disturbances.
Keywords: Cardiac magnetic resonance; Children; Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy; Mitral valve; Myocardial delayed enhancement.