Apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy presenting as acute subendocardial myocardial infarction

Abstract

Two patients with apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy presented with angina at rest and giant inverted T waves in precordial leads on the electrocardiogram. At cardiac catheterisation one patient had mild coronary artery disease, the other had normal coronary arteries. In both, there was a systolic pressure gradient between the apex and main left ventricular cavity exceeding 100 mmHg. The presence of rest angina with the electrocardiographic findings lead to a mistaken, initial diagnosis of acute subendocardial myocardial infarction.