A study published yesterday in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology demonstrated the usefulness of computer algorithms in distinguishing hearts with HCM from athlete’s hearts on echocardiogram.  The computer algorithms were able to automatically classify the echocardiographic images by distinguishing between changes seen in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy  and changes seen in athletes’ hearts due to athletic conditioning.

Dr. Partho P. Sengupta, who authored the study, said that this technology may prove to be a useful tool in recognizing and diagnosing HCM for those who lack the experience to distinguish these conditions on echocardiogram.