Family Screening for Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

Family Screening for Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

If you have hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), the Center for Heart Failure recommends that your first-degree adult relatives (parents, siblings and children) be screened by seeing a physician and getting an electrocardiogram (ECG) and echocardiogram every five years.

The large number of possible genetic mutations means that genetic testing for HCM is not generally practical for everyone, but there are commonly known mutations that can be tested for through a blood sample. The blood sample is sent to an outside genetic testing company, which is responsible for running the test. The cost of the test is billed to your insurance company and you are responsible for paying the cost that is not covered by insurance.

Genetic testing is also available for the children of patients with HCM who are interested in learning whether their children have inherited the condition. For example, if you have HCM and the genetic abnormality is identified, your children can be tested quickly and relatively inexpensively by sending samples of their blood to the genetic testing company to determine if they have the same abnormality.