Left ventricular apical hypertrophy in a transplanted heart: a case report

Left ventricular apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a rare presentation of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy associated with thickening of the apical segment of the left ventricle. It was initially described in Japan in 1976 and is characterized by electrocardiogram findings showing giant T wave inversions in the precordial leads as well as a spade shaped appearance of the apical cavity on imaging (Abugroun et al., Cardiol Res 8:265-268, 2017).

In this case, we present a patient with a heart transplant with a stable post-transplant course who was found to have apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. There have been a few cases of apical hypertrophy in a transplanted heart documented in the literature. Making this case even more unique is that this presentation is evident 17 years after heart transplantation.

Fifty-four year-old male with a history of orthotropic heart transplant in 2001 on immunosuppressive therapy presented with palpitations and associated lightheadedness. He had a blood pressure of 184/89 mmHg on arrival but otherwise had stable vital signs and physical examination. Cardiac biomarkers revealed a CK of 59 U/L and a troponin of 0.11NG/ML(normal < 0.04NG/ML). B type natriuretic peptide was 371 PG/ML(normal 0-100PG/ML). Routine laboratory studies demonstrated normal sodium, magnesium, serum creatinine, and a potassium of 3.3 mmol/L(normal 3.5–5.1 mmol/L). His hemoglobin and hematocrit were normal. His EKG showed sinus rhythm with old T wave inversions in the anterior and lateral leads. Echocardiogram revealed a left ventricular ejection fraction of 55–65%, left posterior wall of 1.3 cm and interventricular septal wall 1.2 cm, thickened trabeculated apex, with severely dilated left atrium. He had a stress test that showed mild inferior wall thinning and a cardiac MRI performed to further evaluate apical hypertrophy revealed prominent apical hypertrophy of the left ventricle with near obliteration of the apical cavity. He had no events on cardiac monitoring and was discharged with close followup with the transplant team.

While there are many etiologies of ApHCM, it has not been well described in transplanted patients who are on chronic immunosuppressive therapy. It is unclear if these groups of patients are at an increased risk of developing this condition. The literature suggests that ApHCM is associated with a being prognosis but there is new data suggesting increased mortality in a subset of patients with this condition.