Prenatal echographic recognition of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy leading to heart transplantation in the newborn

A healthy, non-diabetic 27-year-old woman attended a routine foetal echography during the 32nd week of an uneventful first pregnancy. Growth of the (female) foetus was normal for the gestational phase and no general malformation was observed. However, the echocardiographic evaluation (Panel A) showed massive left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy (end-diastolic thickness of the interventricular septum, 13 mm; left posterior wall, 22 mm); the right-ventricular free wall was also hypertrophic. These findings were confirmed at birth (Panel B) by echocardiographic demonstration of massive cardiac …