ask: My husband has just been diagnosed with HOCM. What are the screening tests for our children for this condition?

Hi Anonymous

Thanks for your question and welcome!

I'm sorry your husband has received this diagnosis - it is often passed down through families so being aware of your children's health is a smart move although of course it's not automatic that the children of someone with this condition will also have it. But as a mother, I understand any worries you may have.

There are various tests for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (for readers who may not be familiar, this is when the heart muscle thickens and makes it difficult for the heart to pump blood to the body) that you can talk to your children's doctor about.

Tests can be as simple as listening to the child's heartbeat to check for irregularities, to to wearing a heart monitor for 24 hours so that the heart is recorded for one full day and the results are analyzed to look for irregularities. Other tests include x-rays, MRIs or the one most used - the echocardiogram. This test analyzes the heart but doesn't use radiation like an x-ray. It literally transfers the echos of the heart's sound waves and a Doppler tests records it for analysis.

Talk to their pediatrician about what tests are right for them. For more information, click on our page here: http://www.empowher.com/media/reference/hypertrophic-cardiomyopathy .

If you need more help, please let us know and best of luck to you and your family!

~Susan