Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in the elderly. A frequently misdiagnosed disease
- 1 April 1986
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Medical Association (AMA) in Archives of Internal Medicine
- Vol. 146 (4), 658-661
- https://doi.org/10.1001/archinte.146.4.658
Abstract
In 20 elderly patients (mean age, 76 years; range, 70 to 86 years), hypertrophic cardiomyopathy was diagnosed echocardiographically. Although the disease was moderate to severe in all patients, the diagnosis was not suspected in 19 patients prior to echocardiography. Inappropriate therapy consisting of potentially harmful drugs, such as digitalis, nitrates, and diuretics, was commonly used, often for unclear indications. Since echocardiography can easily and accurately diagnose hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, an increased awareness of its occurrence in the elderly and use of echocardiography would reduce diagnostic and therapeutic errors.This publication has 2 references indexed in Scilit: