Intramyocardial coronary flow characteristics in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: non-invasive assessment by transthoracic Doppler echocardiography.

Inadequate coronary vasodilator reserve, 1 luminal narrowing of coronary capillaries, and systolic compression of the intramyocardial small arteries are considered to contribute towards myocardial ischaemia in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Previously, abnormal phasic coronary flow velocity pattern in the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) in patients with HCM, which was characterised by flow reversal in systole and slow acceleration and rapid deceleration in diastole, has been observed by Doppler guide wire method. However, intramyocardial coronary flow characteristics in patients with HCM have not been reported. We aimed to evaluate phasic intramyocardial coronary flow velocity pattern in patients with HCM by transthoracic Doppler echocardiography.