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A new scanning technique may enable doctors to diagnose hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, the leading cause of sudden cardiac death in the young. Such is the finding of the study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology by Dr Rina Ariga and colleagues.

Dr Ariga, a cardiologist and NIHR Clinical Lecturer, is part of an Oxford team led by Professors Hugh Watkins and Stefan Neubauer. The team borrowed a brain imaging technique and applied it to the heart in order to identify signs of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which currently are only detectable post-mortem.

 

Dr Ariga, said:

“This is the first time that we’ve been able to assess disarray non-invasively in living patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. We’re hopeful that this new scan will improve the way we identify high-risk patients so that they can receive an implantable cardioverter defibrillator early to prevent sudden death.”

 

Read more about the study