Meta-Analysis of Penetrance and Systematic Review on Transition to Disease in Genetic Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.

BACKGROUND: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is characterized by unexplained left ventricular hypertrophy and is classically caused by pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants (P/LP) in genes encoding sarcomere proteins. Not all subclinical variant carriers will manifest clinically overt disease because penetrance (proportion of sarcomere or sarcomere-related P/LP variant carriers who develop disease) is variable, age dependent, and not reliably predicted. METHODS: A systematic search of the literature was performed. We used random-effects generalized linear mixed model meta-analyses to contrast the cross-sectional prevalence and penetrance of sarcomere or sarcomere-related genes in 2 different contexts: clinically-based studies on patients and families with HCM versus population or community-based studies. Longitudinal family/clinical studies were additionally analyzed to investigate the rate of phenotypic conversion from subclinical to overt HCM during follow-up. RESULTS: In total, 455 full-text manuscripts and articles were assessed. In family/clinical studies, the prevalence of sarcomere variants in patients diagnosed with HCM was 34%. The penetrance across all genes in nonproband relatives carrying P/LP variants identified during cascade screening was 57% (95% CI, 52%-63%), and the mean age at HCM diagnosis was 38 years (95% CI, 36%-40%). Penetrance varied from ≈32% for MYL3 (myosin light chain 3) to ≈55% for MYBPC3 (myosin-binding protein C3), ≈60% for TNNT2 (troponin T2) and TNNI3 (troponin I3), and ≈65% for MYH7 (myosin heavy chain 7). Population-based genetic studies demonstrate that P/LP sarcomere variants are present in the background population but at a low prevalence of <1%. The penetrance of HCM in incidentally identified P/LP variant carriers was also substantially lower at ≈11%, ranging from 0% in Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities to 18% in UK Biobank. In longitudinal family studies, the pooled phenotypic conversion across all genes was 15% over an average of ≈8 years of follow-up, starting from a mean of ≈16 years of age. However, short-term gene-specific phenotypic conversion varied between ≈12% for MYBPC3 and ≈23% for MYH7. CONCLUSIONS: The penetrance of P/LP variants is highly variable and influenced by currently undefined and context-dependent genetic and environmental factors. Additional longitudinal studies are needed to improve our understanding of true lifetime penetrance in families and in the community and to identify drivers of the transition from subclinical to overt HCM.

2024 AHA/ACC/AMSSM/HRS/PACES/SCMR Guideline for the Management of Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy: A Report of the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology Joint Committee on Clinical Practice Guidelines.

AIM: The "2024 AHA/ACC/AMSSM/HRS/PACES/SCMR Guideline for the Management of Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy" provides recommendations to guide clinicians in the management of patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. METHODS: A comprehensive literature search was conducted from September 14, 2022, to November 22, 2022, encompassing studies, reviews, and other evidence on human subjects that were published in English from PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and other selected databases relevant to this guideline. Additional relevant studies, published through May 23, 2023, during the guideline writing process, were also considered by the writing committee and added to the evidence tables, where appropriate. STRUCTURE: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy remains a common genetic heart disease reported in populations globally. Recommendations from the "2020 AHA/ACC Guideline for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Patients With Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy" have been updated with new evidence to guide clinicians.

Ablation of lysophosphatidic acid receptor 1 attenuates hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in a mouse model.

Myocardial fibrosis is a key pathologic feature of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). However, the fibrotic pathways activated by HCM-causing sarcomere protein gene mutations are poorly defined. Because lysophosphatidic acid is a mediator of fibrosis in multiple organs and diseases, we tested the role of the lysophosphatidic acid pathway in HCM. Lysphosphatidic acid receptor 1 (LPAR1), a cell surface receptor, is required for lysophosphatidic acid mediation of fibrosis. We bred HCM mice carrying a pathogenic myosin heavy-chain variant (403+/-) with Lpar1-ablated mice to create mice carrying both genetic changes (403+/- LPAR1 -/-) and assessed development of cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis. Compared with 403+/- LPAR1WT, 403+/- LPAR1 -/- mice developed significantly less hypertrophy and fibrosis. Single-nucleus RNA sequencing of left ventricular tissue demonstrated that Lpar1 was predominantly expressed by lymphatic endothelial cells (LECs) and cardiac fibroblasts. Lpar1 ablation reduced the population of LECs, confirmed by immunofluorescence staining of the LEC markers Lyve1 and Ccl21a and, by in situ hybridization, for Reln and Ccl21a. Lpar1 ablation also altered the distribution of fibroblast cell states. FB1 and FB2 fibroblasts decreased while FB0 and FB3 fibroblasts increased. Our findings indicate that Lpar1 is expressed predominantly by LECs and fibroblasts in the heart and is required for development of hypertrophy and fibrosis in an HCM mouse model. LPAR1 antagonism, including agents in clinical trials for other fibrotic diseases, may be beneficial for HCM.

Genetics of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: established and emerging implications for clinical practice.

Pathogenic variation in genes encoding proteins of the cardiac sarcomere is responsible for 30%-40% of cases of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The main clinical utility of genetic testing is to provide diagnostic confirmation and facilitation of family screening. It also assists in the detection of aetiologies, which require distinct monitoring and treatment approaches. Other clinical applications, including the use of genetic information to inform risk prediction models, have been limited by the challenge of establishing robust genotype-phenotype correlations with actionable consequences, but new data on the interaction between rare and common genetic variation, as well as the emergence of therapies targeting disease-specific pathogenic mechanisms, herald a new era for genetic testing in routine practice.

Left Ventricular Systolic Dysfunction in Patients Diagnosed With Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy During Childhood: Insights From the SHaRe Registry.

BACKGROUND: The development of left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD) in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is rare but serious and associated with poor outcomes in adults. Little is known about the prevalence, predictors, and prognosis of LVSD in patients diagnosed with HCM as children. METHODS: Data from patients with HCM in the international, multicenter SHaRe (Sarcomeric Human Cardiomyopathy Registry) were analyzed. LVSD was defined as left ventricular ejection fraction <50% on echocardiographic reports. Prognosis was assessed by a composite of death, cardiac transplantation, and left ventricular assist device implantation. Predictors of developing incident LVSD and subsequent prognosis with LVSD were assessed using Cox proportional hazards models. RESULTS: We studied 1010 patients diagnosed with HCM during childhood (<18 years of age) and compared them with 6741 patients with HCM diagnosed as adults. In the pediatric HCM cohort, median age at HCM diagnosis was 12.7 years (interquartile range, 8.0-15.3), and 393 (36%) patients were female. At initial SHaRe site evaluation, 56 (5.5%) patients with childhood-diagnosed HCM had prevalent LVSD, and 92 (9.1%) developed incident LVSD during a median follow-up of 5.5 years. Overall LVSD prevalence was 14.7% compared with 8.7% in patients with adult-diagnosed HCM. Median age at incident LVSD was 32.6 years (interquartile range, 21.3-41.6) for the pediatric cohort and 57.2 years (interquartile range, 47.3-66.5) for the adult cohort. Predictors of developing incident LVSD in childhood-diagnosed HCM included age <12 years at HCM diagnosis (hazard ratio [HR], 1.72 [CI, 1.13-2.62), male sex (HR, 3.1 [CI, 1.88-5.2), carrying a pathogenic sarcomere variant (HR, 2.19 [CI, 1.08-4.4]), previous septal reduction therapy (HR, 2.34 [CI, 1.42-3.9]), and lower initial left ventricular ejection fraction (HR, 1.53 [CI, 1.38-1.69] per 5% decrease). Forty percent of patients with LVSD and HCM diagnosed during childhood met the composite outcome, with higher rates in female participants (HR, 2.60 [CI, 1.41-4.78]) and patients with a left ventricular ejection fraction <35% (HR, 3.76 [2.16-6.52]). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with childhood-diagnosed HCM have a significantly higher lifetime risk of developing LVSD, and LVSD emerges earlier than for patients with adult-diagnosed HCM. Regardless of age at diagnosis with HCM or LVSD, the prognosis with LVSD is poor, warranting careful surveillance for LVSD, especially as children with HCM transition to adult care.

Discordant clinical features of identical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy twins.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a disease of heart muscle, which affects ∼1 in 500 individuals and is characterized by increased left ventricular wall thickness. While HCM is caused by pathogenic variants in any one of eight sarcomere protein genes, clinical expression varies considerably, even among patients with the same pathogenic variant. To determine whether background genetic variation or environmental factors drive these differences, we studied disease progression in 11 pairs of monozygotic HCM twins. The twin pairs were followed for 5 to 14 y, and left ventricular wall thickness, left atrial diameter, and left ventricular ejection fraction were collected from echocardiograms at various time points. All nine twin pairs with sarcomere protein gene variants and two with unknown disease etiologies had discordant morphologic features of the heart, demonstrating the influence of nonhereditable factors on clinical expression of HCM. Whole genome sequencing analysis of the six monozygotic twins with discordant HCM phenotypes did not reveal notable somatic genetic variants that might explain their clinical differences. Discordant cardiac morphology of identical twins highlights a significant role for epigenetics and environment in HCM disease progression.

Angiotensin receptor blockers in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: A comparison of VANISH and INHERIT randomized trials.

PURPOSE: To identify the cause of discrepancy between the INHERIT trial and VANISH trial in regards to disease modification of angiotensin receptor II blockers in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). METHODS: We replicated the data analysis used in VANISH, converting individual change in each component of the composite endpoint into a z-score and applying this z-score to the INHERIT results. RESULTS: No significant improvement was identified in the composite z-score between the 2 groups at 12-month follow-up (P = .4). With the exception of tissue Doppler systolic (s') velocity, we found no significant benefit or harm from losartan compared to placebo for any of the individual components of the composite score at 12-month follow-up. Results were similar in analyses without imputed data or when restricted to patients with sarcomeric HCM. CONCLUSION: Despite applying the potentially more sensitive composite z-score endpoint as in the VANISH trial, no statistically significant benefits from the use of losartan compared to placebo could be detected at 12-month follow-up in patients with overt HCM participating in the INHERIT trial.

Mavacamten for treatment of symptomatic obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (EXPLORER-HCM): health status analysis of a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial.

BACKGROUND: Improving symptoms is a primary treatment goal in patients with obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Currently available pharmacological options for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy are not disease-specific and are often inadequate or poorly tolerated. We aimed to assess the effect of mavacamten, a first-in-class cardiac myosin inhibitor, on patients' health status-ie, symptoms, physical and social function, and quality of life. METHODS: We did a health status analysis of EXPLORER-HCM, a phase 3, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial. The study took place at 68 clinical cardiovascular centres in 13 countries. Adult patients (≥18 years) with symptomatic obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (gradient ≥50 mm Hg and New York Heart Association class II-III) were randomly assigned (1:1) to mavacamten or placebo for 30 weeks, followed by an 8-week washout period. Both patients and staff were masked to study treatment. The primary outcome for this secondary analysis was the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ), a well validated disease-specific measure of patients' health status. It was administered at baseline and weeks 6, 12, 18, 30 (end of treatment), and 38 (end of study). Changes from baseline to week 30 in KCCQ overall summary (OS) score and all subscales were analysed using mixed model repeated measures. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03470545. FINDINGS: Between May 30, 2018, and July 12, 2019, 429 adults were assessed for eligibility, of whom 251 (59%) were enrolled and randomly assigned. Of 123 patients randomly assigned to mavacamten, 92 (75%) completed the KCCQ at baseline and week 30 and of the 128 patients randomly assigned to placebo 88 (69%) completed the KCCQ at baseline and week 30. At 30 weeks, the change in KCCQ-OS score was greater with mavacamten than placebo (mean score 14·9 [SD 15·8] vs 5·4 [13·7]; difference +9·1 [95% CI 5·5-12·8]; p<0·0001), with similar benefits across all KCCQ subscales. The proportion of patients with a very large change (KCCQ-OS ≥20 points) was 36% (33 of 92) in the mavacamten group versus 15% (13 of 88) in the placebo group, with an estimated absolute difference of 21% (95% CI 8·8-33·4) and number needed to treat of five (95% CI 3-11). These gains returned to baseline after treatment was stopped. INTERPRETATION: Mavacamten markedly improved the health status of patients with symptomatic obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy compared with placebo, with a low number needed to treat for marked improvement. Given that the primary goals of treatment are to improve symptoms, physical and social function, and quality of life, mavacamten represents a new potential strategy for achieving these goals. FUNDING: MyoKardia, a Bristol Myers Squibb company.

Clinical characteristics and outcomes in childhood-onset hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

AIMS: Childhood-onset hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is far less common than adult-onset disease, thus natural history is not well characterized. We aim to describe the characteristics and outcomes of childhood-onset HCM. METHODS AND RESULTS: We performed an observational cohort study of 7677 HCM patients from the Sarcomeric Human Cardiomyopathy Registry (SHaRe). Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy patients were stratified by age at diagnosis [<1 year (infancy), 1-18 years (childhood), >18 years (adulthood)] and assessed for composite endpoints reflecting heart failure (HF), life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias, atrial fibrillation (AF), and an overall composite that also included stroke and death. Stratifying by age of diagnosis, 184 (2.4%) patients were diagnosed in infancy; 1128 (14.7%) in childhood; and 6365 (82.9%) in adulthood. Childhood-onset HCM patients had an ∼2%/year event rate for the overall composite endpoint, with ventricular arrhythmias representing the most common event in the 1st decade following baseline visit, but HF and AF becoming more common by the end of the 2nd decade. Sarcomeric variants were more common in childhood-onset HCM (63%) and carried a worse prognosis than non-sarcomeric disease, including a greater than two-fold increased risk of HF [HRadj 2.39 (1.36-4.20), P = 0.003] and 67% increased risk of the overall composite outcome [HRadj 1.67 (1.16-2.41), P = 0.006]. When compared with adult-onset HCM, childhood-onset was 36% more likely to develop life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias [HRadj 1.36 (1.03-1.80)] and twice as likely to require transplant or ventricular assist device [HRadj 1.99 (1.23-3.23)]. CONCLUSION: Patients with childhood-onset HCM are more likely to have sarcomeric disease, carry a higher risk of life-threatening ventricular arrythmias, and have greater need for advanced HF therapies. These findings provide insight into the natural history of disease and can help inform clinical risk stratification.

Worldwide differences in primary prevention implantable cardioverter defibrillator utilization and outcomes in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

AIMS: Risk stratification algorithms for sudden cardiac death (SCD) in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and regional differences in clinical practice have evolved over time. We sought to compare primary prevention implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) implantation rates and associated clinical outcomes in US vs. non-US tertiary HCM centres within the international Sarcomeric Human Cardiomyopathy Registry. METHODS AND RESULTS: We included patients with HCM enrolled from eight US sites (n = 2650) and five non-US (n = 2660) sites and used multivariable Cox-proportional hazards models to compare outcomes between sites. Primary prevention ICD implantation rates in US sites were two-fold higher than non-US sites (hazard ratio (HR) 2.27 [1.89-2.74]), including in individuals deemed at high 5-year SCD risk (≥6%) based on the HCM risk-SCD score (HR 3.27 [1.76-6.05]). US ICD recipients also had fewer traditional SCD risk factors. Among ICD recipients, rates of appropriate ICD therapy were significantly lower in US vs. non-US sites (HR 0.52 [0.28-0.97]). No significant difference was identified in the incidence of SCD/resuscitated cardiac arrest among non-recipients of ICDs in US vs. non-US sites (HR 1.21 [0.74-1.97]). CONCLUSION: Primary prevention ICDs are implanted more frequently in patients with HCM in US vs. non-US sites across the spectrum of SCD risk. There was a lower rate of appropriate ICD therapy in US sites, consistent with a lower-risk population, and no significant difference in SCD in US vs. non-US patients who did not receive an ICD. Further studies are needed to understand what drives malignant arrhythmias, optimize ICD allocation, and examine the impact of different ICD utilization strategies on long-term outcomes in HCM.

Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy With Left Ventricular Systolic Dysfunction: Insights From the SHaRe Registry.

BACKGROUND: The term "end stage" has been used to describe hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) with left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD), defined as occurring when left ventricular ejection fraction is <50%. The prognosis of HCM-LVSD has reportedly been poor, but because of its relative rarity, the natural history remains incompletely characterized. METHODS: Data from 11 high-volume HCM specialty centers making up the international SHaRe Registry (Sarcomeric Human Cardiomyopathy Registry) were used to describe the natural history of patients with HCM-LVSD. Cox proportional hazards models were used to identify predictors of prognosis and incident development. RESULTS: From a cohort of 6793 patients with HCM, 553 (8%) met the criteria for HCM-LVSD. Overall, 75% of patients with HCM-LVSD experienced clinically relevant events, and 35% met the composite outcome (all-cause death [n=128], cardiac transplantation [n=55], or left ventricular assist device implantation [n=9]). After recognition of HCM-LVSD, the median time to composite outcome was 8.4 years. However, there was substantial individual variation in natural history. Significant predictors of the composite outcome included the presence of multiple pathogenic/likely pathogenic sarcomeric variants (hazard ratio [HR], 5.6 [95% CI, 2.3-13.5]), atrial fibrillation (HR, 2.6 [95% CI, 1.7-3.5]), and left ventricular ejection fraction <35% (HR, 2.0 [95% CI, 1.3-2.8]). The incidence of new HCM-LVSD was ≈7.5% over 15 years. Significant predictors of developing incident HCM-LVSD included greater left ventricular cavity size (HR, 1.1 [95% CI, 1.0-1.3] and wall thickness (HR, 1.3 [95% CI, 1.1-1.4]), left ventricular ejection fraction of 50% to 60% (HR, 1.8 [95% CI, 1.2, 2.8]-2.8 [95% CI, 1.8-4.2]) at baseline evaluation, the presence of late gadolinium enhancement on cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (HR, 2.3 [95% CI, 1.0-4.9]), and the presence of a pathogenic/likely pathogenic sarcomeric variant, particularly in thin filament genes (HR, 1.5 [95% CI, 1.0-2.1] and 2.5 [95% CI, 1.2-5.1], respectively). CONCLUSIONS: HCM-LVSD affects ≈8% of patients with HCM. Although the natural history of HCM-LVSD was variable, 75% of patients experienced adverse events, including 35% experiencing a death equivalent an estimated median time of 8.4 years after developing systolic dysfunction. In addition to clinical features, genetic substrate appears to play a role in both prognosis (multiple sarcomeric variants) and the risk for incident development of HCM-LVSD (thin filament variants).

Myosin Sequestration Regulates Sarcomere Function, Cardiomyocyte Energetics, and Metabolism, Informing the Pathogenesis of Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.

BACKGROUND: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is caused by pathogenic variants in sarcomere protein genes that evoke hypercontractility, poor relaxation, and increased energy consumption by the heart and increased patient risks for arrhythmias and heart failure. Recent studies show that pathogenic missense variants in myosin, the molecular motor of the sarcomere, are clustered in residues that participate in dynamic conformational states of sarcomere proteins. We hypothesized that these conformations are essential to adapt contractile output for energy conservation and that pathophysiology of HCM results from destabilization of these conformations. METHODS: We assayed myosin ATP binding to define the proportion of myosins in the super relaxed state (SRX) conformation or the disordered relaxed state (DRX) conformation in healthy rodent and human hearts, at baseline and in response to reduced hemodynamic demands of hibernation or pathogenic HCM variants. To determine the relationships between myosin conformations, sarcomere function, and cell biology, we assessed contractility, relaxation, and cardiomyocyte morphology and metabolism, with and without an allosteric modulator of myosin ATPase activity. We then tested whether the positions of myosin variants of unknown clinical significance that were identified in patients with HCM, predicted functional consequences and associations with heart failure and arrhythmias. RESULTS: Myosins undergo physiological shifts between the SRX conformation that maximizes energy conservation and the DRX conformation that enables cross-bridge formation with greater ATP consumption. Systemic hemodynamic requirements, pharmacological modulators of myosin, and pathogenic myosin missense mutations influenced the proportions of these conformations. Hibernation increased the proportion of myosins in the SRX conformation, whereas pathogenic variants destabilized these and increased the proportion of myosins in the DRX conformation, which enhanced cardiomyocyte contractility, but impaired relaxation and evoked hypertrophic remodeling with increased energetic stress. Using structural locations to stratify variants of unknown clinical significance, we showed that the variants that destabilized myosin conformations were associated with higher rates of heart failure and arrhythmias in patients with HCM. CONCLUSIONS: Myosin conformations establish work-energy equipoise that is essential for life-long cellular homeostasis and heart function. Destabilization of myosin energy-conserving states promotes contractile abnormalities, morphological and metabolic remodeling, and adverse clinical outcomes in patients with HCM. Therapeutic restabilization corrects cellular contractile and metabolic phenotypes and may limit these adverse clinical outcomes in patients with HCM.

A Validated Model for Sudden Cardiac Death Risk Prediction in Pediatric Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.

BACKGROUND: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is the leading cause of sudden cardiac death (SCD) in children and young adults. Our objective was to develop and validate a SCD risk prediction model in pediatric hypertrophic cardiomyopathy to guide SCD prevention strategies. METHODS: In an international multicenter observational cohort study, phenotype-positive patients with isolated hypertrophic cardiomyopathy <18 years of age at diagnosis were eligible. The primary outcome variable was the time from diagnosis to a composite of SCD events at 5-year follow-up: SCD, resuscitated sudden cardiac arrest, and aborted SCD, that is, appropriate shock following primary prevention implantable cardioverter defibrillators. Competing risk models with cause-specific hazard regression were used to identify and quantify clinical and genetic factors associated with SCD. The cause-specific regression model was implemented using boosting, and tuned with 10 repeated 4-fold cross-validations. The final model was fitted using all data with the tuned hyperparameter value that maximizes the c-statistic, and its performance was characterized by using the c-statistic for competing risk models. The final model was validated in an independent external cohort (SHaRe [Sarcomeric Human Cardiomyopathy Registry], n=285). RESULTS: Overall, 572 patients met eligibility criteria with 2855 patient-years of follow-up. The 5-year cumulative proportion of SCD events was 9.1% (14 SCD, 25 resuscitated sudden cardiac arrests, and 14 aborted SCD). Risk predictors included age at diagnosis, documented nonsustained ventricular tachycardia, unexplained syncope, septal diameter z-score, left ventricular posterior wall diameter z score, left atrial diameter z score, peak left ventricular outflow tract gradient, and presence of a pathogenic variant. Unlike in adults, left ventricular outflow tract gradient had an inverse association, and family history of SCD had no association with SCD. Clinical and clinical/genetic models were developed to predict 5-year freedom from SCD. Both models adequately discriminated between patients with and without SCD events with a c-statistic of 0.75 and 0.76, respectively, and demonstrated good agreement between predicted and observed events in the primary and validation cohorts (validation c-statistic 0.71 and 0.72, respectively). CONCLUSION: Our study provides a validated SCD risk prediction model with >70% prediction accuracy and incorporates risk factors that are unique to pediatric hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. An individualized risk prediction model has the potential to improve the application of clinical practice guidelines and shared decision making for implantable cardioverter defibrillator insertion. Registration: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov; Unique identifier: NCT0403679.

Mavacamten for treatment of symptomatic obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (EXPLORER-HCM): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial.

BACKGROUND: Cardiac muscle hypercontractility is a key pathophysiological abnormality in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and a major determinant of dynamic left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) obstruction. Available pharmacological options for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy are inadequate or poorly tolerated and are not disease-specific. We aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of mavacamten, a first-in-class cardiac myosin inhibitor, in symptomatic obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. METHODS: In this phase 3, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial (EXPLORER-HCM) in 68 clinical cardiovascular centres in 13 countries, patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with an LVOT gradient of 50 mm Hg or greater and New York Heart Association (NYHA) class II-III symptoms were assigned (1:1) to receive mavacamten (starting at 5 mg) or placebo for 30 weeks. Visits for assessment of patient status occurred every 2-4 weeks. Serial evaluations included echocardiogram, electrocardiogram, and blood collection for laboratory tests and mavacamten plasma concentration. The primary endpoint was a 1·5 mL/kg per min or greater increase in peak oxygen consumption (pVO2) and at least one NYHA class reduction or a 3·0 mL/kg per min or greater pVO2 increase without NYHA class worsening. Secondary endpoints assessed changes in post-exercise LVOT gradient, pVO2, NYHA class, Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire-Clinical Summary Score (KCCQ-CSS), and Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Symptom Questionnaire Shortness-of-Breath subscore (HCMSQ-SoB). This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03470545. FINDINGS: Between May 30, 2018, and July 12, 2019, 429 adults were assessed for eligibility, of whom 251 (59%) were enrolled and randomly assigned to mavacamten (n=123 [49%]) or placebo (n=128 [51%]). 45 (37%) of 123 patients on mavacamten versus 22 (17%) of 128 on placebo met the primary endpoint (difference +19·4%, 95% CI 8·7 to 30·1; p=0·0005). Patients on mavacamten had greater reductions than those on placebo in post-exercise LVOT gradient (-36 mm Hg, 95% CI -43·2 to -28·1; p<0·0001), greater increase in pVO2 (+1·4 mL/kg per min, 0·6 to 2·1; p=0·0006), and improved symptom scores (KCCQ-CSS +9·1, 5·5 to 12·7; HCMSQ-SoB -1·8, -2·4 to -1·2; p<0·0001). 34% more patients in the mavacamten group improved by at least one NYHA class (80 of 123 patients in the mavacamten group vs 40 of 128 patients in the placebo group; 95% CI 22·2 to 45·4; p<0·0001). Safety and tolerability were similar to placebo. Treatment-emergent adverse events were generally mild. One patient died by sudden death in the placebo group. INTERPRETATION: Treatment with mavacamten improved exercise capacity, LVOT obstruction, NYHA functional class, and health status in patients with obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The results of this pivotal trial highlight the benefits of disease-specific treatment for this condition. FUNDING: MyoKardia.

Computational prediction of protein subdomain stability in MYBPC3 enables clinical risk stratification in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and enhances variant interpretation.

PURPOSE: Variants in MYBPC3 causing loss of function are the most common cause of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). However, a substantial number of patients carry missense variants of uncertain significance (VUS) in MYBPC3. We hypothesize that a structural-based algorithm, STRUM, which estimates the effect of missense variants on protein folding, will identify a subgroup of HCM patients with a MYBPC3 VUS associated with increased clinical risk. METHODS: Among 7,963 patients in the multicenter Sarcomeric Human Cardiomyopathy Registry (SHaRe), 120 unique missense VUS in MYBPC3 were identified. Variants were evaluated for their effect on subdomain folding and a stratified time-to-event analysis for an overall composite endpoint (first occurrence of ventricular arrhythmia, heart failure, all-cause mortality, atrial fibrillation, and stroke) was performed for patients with HCM and a MYBPC3 missense VUS. RESULTS: We demonstrated that patients carrying a MYBPC3 VUS predicted to cause subdomain misfolding (STRUM+, ΔΔG ≤ -1.2 kcal/mol) exhibited a higher rate of adverse events compared with those with a STRUM- VUS (hazard ratio = 2.29, P = 0.0282). In silico saturation mutagenesis of MYBPC3 identified 4,943/23,427 (21%) missense variants that were predicted to cause subdomain misfolding. CONCLUSION: STRUM identifies patients with HCM and a MYBPC3 VUS who may be at higher clinical risk and provides supportive evidence for pathogenicity.

Disease-specific variant pathogenicity prediction significantly improves variant interpretation in inherited cardiac conditions.

PURPOSE: Accurate discrimination of benign and pathogenic rare variation remains a priority for clinical genome interpretation. State-of-the-art machine learning variant prioritization tools are imprecise and ignore important parameters defining gene-disease relationships, e.g., distinct consequences of gain-of-function versus loss-of-function variants. We hypothesized that incorporating disease-specific information would improve tool performance. METHODS: We developed a disease-specific variant classifier, CardioBoost, that estimates the probability of pathogenicity for rare missense variants in inherited cardiomyopathies and arrhythmias. We assessed CardioBoost's ability to discriminate known pathogenic from benign variants, prioritize disease-associated variants, and stratify patient outcomes. RESULTS: CardioBoost has high global discrimination accuracy (precision recall area under the curve [AUC] 0.91 for cardiomyopathies; 0.96 for arrhythmias), outperforming existing tools (4-24% improvement). CardioBoost obtains excellent accuracy (cardiomyopathies 90.2%; arrhythmias 91.9%) for variants classified with >90% confidence, and increases the proportion of variants classified with high confidence more than twofold compared with existing tools. Variants classified as disease-causing are associated with both disease status and clinical severity, including a 21% increased risk (95% confidence interval [CI] 11-29%) of severe adverse outcomes by age 60 in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. CONCLUSIONS: A disease-specific variant classifier outperforms state-of-the-art genome-wide tools for rare missense variants in inherited cardiac conditions ( https://www.cardiodb.org/cardioboost/ ), highlighting broad opportunities for improved pathogenicity prediction through disease specificity.

Prevalence and Progression of Late Gadolinium Enhancement in Children and Adolescents With Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.

BACKGROUND: Late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) on cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) is believed to represent dense replacement fibrosis. It is seen in ≈60% of adult patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). However, the prevalence of LGE in children and adolescents with HCM is not well established. In addition, longitudinal studies describing the development and evolution of LGE in pediatric HCM are lacking. This study assesses the prevalence, progression, and clinical correlations of LGE in children and adolescents with, or genetically predisposed to, HCM. METHODS: CMR scans from 195 patients ≤21 years of age were analyzed in an observational, retrospective study, including 155 patients with overt HCM and 40 sarcomere mutation carriers without left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy. The extent of LGE was quantified by measuring regions with signal intensity >6 SD above nulled remote myocardium. RESULTS: Patients were 14.3±4.5 years of age at baseline and 68% were male. LGE was present in 70 (46%) patients with overt HCM (median extent, 3.3%; interquartile range, 0.8-7.1%), but absent in mutation carriers without LV hypertrophy. Thirty-one patients had >1 CMR (median interval between studies, 2.4 years; interquartile range, 1.5-3.2 years). LGE was detected in 13 patients (42%) at baseline and in 16 patients (52%) at follow-up CMR. The median extent of LGE increased by 2.4 g/y (range, 0-13.2 g/y) from 2.9% (interquartile range, 0.8-3.2%) of LV mass to 4.3% (interquartile range, 2.9-6.8%) ( P=0.02). In addition to LGE, LV mass and left atrial volume, indexed to body surface area, and z score for LV mass, as well, increased significantly from first to most recent CMR. CONCLUSIONS: LGE was present in 46% of children and adolescents with overt HCM, in contrast to ≈60% typically reported in adult HCM. In the subset of patients with serial imaging, statistically significant increases in LGE, LV mass, and left atrial size were detected over 2.5 years, indicating disease progression over time. Further prospective studies are required to confirm these findings and to better understand the clinical implications of LGE in pediatric HCM.

Genotype and Lifetime Burden of Disease in Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy: Insights from the Sarcomeric Human Cardiomyopathy Registry (SHaRe).

Background: A better understanding of the factors that contribute to heterogeneous outcomes and lifetime disease burden in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is critically needed to improve patient management and outcomes. The Sarcomeric Human Cardiomyopathy Registry (SHaRe) was established to provide the scale of data required to address these issues, aggregating longitudinal datasets curated by eight international HCM specialty centers. Methods: Data on 4591 HCM patients (2763 genotyped), followed for a mean of 5.4±6.9 years (24,791 patient-years; median [interquartile range] 2.9 [0.3-7.9] years) were analyzed regarding cardiac arrest, cardiac transplantation, appropriate implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) therapy, all-cause death, atrial fibrillation, stroke, New York Heart Association Functional Class III/IV symptoms (all comprising the overall composite endpoint), and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF)<35%. Outcomes were analyzed individually and as composite endpoints. Results: Median age of diagnosis was 45.8 [30.9-58.1] years and 37% of patients were female. Age of diagnosis and sarcomere mutation status were predictive of outcomes. Patients <40 years old at diagnosis had a 77% [95% confidence interval: 72%, 80%] cumulative incidence of the overall composite outcome by age 60, compared to 32% [29%, 36%] by age 70 for patients diagnosed >60 years. Young HCM patients (20-29 years) had 4-fold higher mortality than the general United States population at a similar age. Patients with pathogenic/likely pathogenic sarcomere mutations had two-fold greater risk for adverse outcomes compared to patients without mutations; sarcomere variants of uncertain significance were associated with intermediate risk. Heart failure and atrial fibrillation were the most prevalent adverse events, although typically not emerging for several years after diagnosis. Ventricular arrhythmias occurred in 32% [23%, 40%] of patients <40 years at diagnosis, but in 1% [1%, 2%] >60 years. Conclusions: The cumulative burden of HCM is substantial and dominated by heart failure and atrial fibrillation occurring many years following diagnosis. Young age of diagnosis and the presence of a sarcomere mutation are powerful predictors of adverse outcomes. These findings highlight the need for close surveillance throughout life, and the need to develop disease-modifying therapies.

Left Ventricular Strain Is Abnormal in Preclinical and Overt Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy: Cardiac MR Feature Tracking.

Purpose To evaluate myocardial strain and circumferential transmural strain difference (cTSD; the difference between epicardial and endocardial circumferential strain) in a genotyped cohort with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and to explore correlations between cTSD and other anatomic and functional markers of disease status. Left ventricular (LV) dysfunction may indicate early disease in preclinical HCM (sarcomere mutation carriers without LV hypertrophy). Cardiac MRI feature tracking may be used to evaluate myocardial strain in carriers of HCM sarcomere mutation. Materials and Methods Participants with HCM and their family members participated in a prospective, multicenter, observational study (HCMNet). Genetic testing was performed in all participants. Study participants underwent cardiac MRI with temporal resolution at 40 msec or less. LV myocardial strain was analyzed by using feature-tracking software. Circumferential strain was measured at the epicardial and endocardial surfaces; their difference yielded the circumferential transmural strain difference (cTSD). Multivariable analysis to predict HCM status was performed by using multinomial logistic regression adjusting for age, sex, and LV parameters. Results Ninety-nine participants were evaluated (23 control participants, 34 participants with preclinical HCM [positive for sarcomere mutation and negative for LV hypertrophy], and 42 participants with overt HCM [positive for sarcomere mutation and negative for LV hypertrophy]). The average age was 25 years ± 11 and 44 participants (44%) were women. Maximal LV wall thickness was 9.5 mm ± 1.4, 9.8 mm ± 2.2, and 16.1 mm ± 5.3 in control participants, participants with preclinical HCM (P = .496 vs control participants), and participants with overt HCM (P < .001 vs control participants), respectively. cTSD for control participants, preclinical HCM, and overt HCM was 14% ± 4, 17% ± 4, and 22% ± 7, respectively (P < .01 for all comparisons). In multivariable models (controlling for septal thickness and log-transformed N-terminal brain-type natriuretic peptide), cTSD was predictive of preclinical and overt HCM disease status (P < .01). Conclusion Cardiac MRI feature tracking identifies myocardial dysfunction not only in participants with overt hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, but also in carriers of sarcomere mutation without left ventricular hypertrophy, suggesting that contractile abnormalities are present even when left ventricular wall thickness is normal. © RSNA, 2018 Online supplemental material is available for this article.