Cureus. 2026 Apr 27;18(4):e107801. doi: 10.7759/cureus.107801. eCollection 2026 Apr.
ABSTRACT
In clinical practice, apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is an insidious phenotype that often conceals significant structural complications. Our case demonstrates a critical "clinical pearl": the necessity of echocardiographic persistence. While standard apical four-chamber views failed to reveal a large apical aneurysm, our clinical suspicion - triggered solely by a high-velocity apical color Doppler jet - led to meticulous probe manipulations (intercostal "sliding" and "tilt") that eventually unmasked a characteristic "hourglass" aneurysmal sac. Beyond the diagnostic challenge, this case highlights a significant discrepancy between current guidelines regarding risk stratification. Despite the presence of a large aneurysm, our patient's sudden cardiac death (SCD) risk was calculated as only 0.68% (low risk) according to the ESC 2014 risk score. However, the 2020 AHA/ACC guidelines correctly categorize this patient as high-risk (class IIa indication for an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator) based on the presence of an apical aneurysm alone. Our report provides concrete evidence of how morphological-only calculators can remain "blind" to life-threatening risks in this specific patient subset. We believe that this case will be of great interest to the readership, emphasizing both the technical nuances of echocardiographic assessment and the vital importance of guideline-directed risk management.
PMID:42211605 | PMC:PMC13215441 | DOI:10.7759/cureus.107801