Point of care echocardiography in the emergency room

Purpose: Apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (AHM) is a variant of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, involving nearly exclusively apex. It is very common among Asian patients, predominantly in Japanese, which is considered relatively benign condition. However, severe clinical manifestations, including sudden cardiac death, severe arrhythmias and apical infarction have been described in case reports. The electrocardiographic changes (giant negative T waves) and associated symptoms (chest pain, palpitations, dyspnea...) often present as acute coronary síndromes. AHM diagnosis is based on the demonstration of myocardial…