Objective: To investigate the incidence of coronary artery tortuosity and its correlation with poor prognosis in patients with septal hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study. Patients with septal HCM who were hospitalized in Fuwai Central China Cardiovascular Hospital and Zhengzhou University People's Hospital between December 1, 2017 and June 10, 2021 were selected. Non-HCM patients were matched by gender, age, and hypertension as control group. Septal HCM was divided into two groups based on the presence or absence of coronary artery tortuosity. Clinical baseline data and coronary angiography findings were compared using a multifactorial logistic analysis of the risk factors for coronary artery tortuosity. Patients were followed up until July 1, 2022, with the primary outcome being the composite endpoint of malignant arrhythmia, ischemic stroke and all-cause death. Incidence densities were compared between the coronary artery tortuosity and non-coronary artery tortuosity groups of septal HCM patients. The Cox risk-ratio model was used to analyze risk factors for primary outcomes in septal HCM patients. Results: There were 156 patients in the septal HCM group and 156 patients in the control group, both aged (57.0±11.4) years, and 75 (48.1%) were female. The incidence of coronary artery tortuosity was significantly higher in the septal HCM group than in the control group (63.5% vs. 36.5%, P<0.01), and the coronary artery tortuosity score was also higher in the septal HCM group than in the control group (P<0.01). Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that septal HCM was a risk factor for coronary artery tortuosity (OR=3.27, 95%CI: 2.02-5.29, P<0.01). In the septal HCM patients, after (2.5±1.2) years of follow-up, the incidence density of primary outcome was significantly higher in the coronary artery tortuosity group than in the non-coronary artery tortuosity group (P=0.02), while each on-point in coronary artery tortuosity score increased the risk of primary outcome by 53% for septal HCM patients (HR=1.53, 95%CI: 1.26-1.86, P<0.01). Conclusions: Patients with septal HCM are more prone to suffer coronary artery tortuosity and suffer from it to a greater extent. Coronary artery tortuosity is an important risk factor for adverse events in patients with septal HCM.
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