[Obstructive cardiomyopathy and associated coronary atherosclerosis. Review of the literature and report of 2 personal cases].
The association of idiopathic hypertrophic subaortic stenosis (IHSS) with significant coronary atherosclerosis is little known, only 43 cases being available in the literature, 2 of which are personal ones. But the incidence of this association has certainly been underestimated. It is especially found from the sixth decade onwards, and at least 20% of patients with IHSS in and above the age group have stenosing lesions of the coronary artery. It is almost impossible to establish the presence of associated coronary abnormalities from the clinical features of from electrocardiogram. It does however seem worthwhile looking for this condition in IHSS when there is refractory chest pain, especially to beta-blockers, particularly if the patient is aged over 50 and has risk factors for ischaemic heart disease. It is also good to find IHSS associated with known coronary artery disease by using simple non-invasive techniques such as phonomechanocardiography and especially echo-cardiography; it is important not to miss the myocardial lesion and to treat concurrently if there is likely to be an indication for dealing with the coronary arteries surgically. The beta-blockers are the treatment of choice for both conditions, together with anticoagulents. If they fail, myectomy or myotomy together with aorto-coronary bypass graft should be considered.