Apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (AHCM) is a relatively rare phenotype of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which is characterized by focal thickening of the left ventricular (LV) apical myocardium, showing a spade-shaped shadow on the left ventricle. We present the case of a 59-year-old man who was found to have AHCM, is an asymptomatic orthotopic heart transplantation (HTx) patient. This rare and progressive case of LV apical hypertrophy emerged from the fourth year post surgery. We analyzed the etiology of this case and summarized the clinical manifestations and prognosis of AHCM following HTx by reviewing our case and the literature.

Apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (ApHCM) is thought to be an uncommon variant of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). This article is a literature review focusing on the characteristic electrocardiogram (EKG) and 2D echocardiogram findings as currently there are no specific ACC/AHA/ESC guidelines set as diagnostic criteria for ApHCM.

Apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (AHCM) is a well-known clinical entity, which is characterized by LV apex hypertrophy and the giant negative T wave at ECG and a spade-like left ventricle. It is a uncommon morphologic variant of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and AHCM appears to be particularly common in Asia whose prevalence was 15% and 3% of all the HCM patients in Japan and USA, respectively. In this case, we present a dramatic progress from symmetrical left ventricular hypertrophy to AHCM with apical aneurysm.