Blog

Please chooseI’m not a medical professional.Allergy and ImmunologyAnatomyAnesthesiologyBiostatisticsCardiac/Thoracic/Vascular SurgeryCardiologyCritical CareDentistryDermatologyDiabetes and EndocrinologyEmergency MedicineEpidemiology and Public HealthFamily MedicineForensic MedicineGastroenterologyGeneral PracticeGeneticsGeriatricsHealth PolicyHematologyHIV/AIDSHospital-based MedicineI’m not a medical professional.Infectious DiseaseIntegrative/Complementary MedicineInternal MedicineInternal Medicine-PediatricsMedical Education and SimulationMedical PhysicsMedical StudentNephrologyNeurological SurgeryNeurologyNuclear MedicineNutritionObstetrics and GynecologyOccupational HealthOncologyOphthalmologyOptometryOral MedicineOrthopaedicsOsteopathic MedicineOtolaryngologyPain ManagementPalliative CarePathologyPediatricsPediatric SurgeryPharmacologyPhysical Medicine and RehabilitationPlastic SurgeryPodiatryPreventive MedicinePsychiatryPsychologyPulmonologyRadiation OncologyRadiologyRheumatologySubstance Use and AddictionSurgeryTherapeuticsTraumaUrologyMiscellaneous

The American College of Cardiology has established a digital hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) registry to learn more about one of the most common genetic cardiovascular diseases and provide more equitable access to treatment and care. The CONNECT-HCM Registry is sponsored by Bristol Myers Squibb and developed in collaboration with Atlantic Health, Arboretum and Yale Center for Outcomes Research & Evaluation (CORE).

Because of the unique challenges in identifying HCM, data, treatment and diagnosis are predominantly from a single center experience with enrollment from limited providers. With this registry we’ll be able to proactively capture data that allows for direct patient enrollment regardless of the provider and allow for a broader understanding of HCM diagnosis, guideline-directed care, and outcomes in mainstream HCM care. We will be able to expand this format to sites throughout the country for patients who wish to enroll themselves into this registry.”

Matthew W. Martinez, MD, FACC, CONNECT-HCM co-principal investigator and director of Sports Cardiology and the HCM Center at Atlantic Health

HCM is a condition where the heart muscle gets too thick, making it harder for the heart to pump blood. It’s the most common genetic cardiovascular condition, but it is difficult to diagnose because many people don’t have symptoms or their symptoms are mistaken for other conditions. Left undiagnosed, HCM can lead to heart failure, blood clots, arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death.

To date, CONNECT-HCM has enrolled over 70 people with HCM who will be followed longitudinally to capture data on their symptoms, diagnostic images, treatment plans, outcomes and demographic information. By linking CONNECT-HCM registry data with individual electronic health records through Arboretum’s Hugo Connect platform, researchers will be able to study how individuals with HCM are cared for across medical providers regardless of location. The research approach and platform has started with Morristown Medical Center with anticipated expansion to additional sites rapidly.

“Registry participants are providing essential data on HCM symptoms, impact of treatments on different patient populations and outcomes that we are currently lacking,” said Rohan Khera, MD, MS, FACC, CONNECT-HCM co-principal investigator and an assistant professor of medicine at Yale School of Medicine. “In the future we’ll be much better equipped to diagnose and manage this complex but treatable condition because of the CONNECT-HCM registry.”

Participants will also receive CardioSmart.org educational materials, including a symptom tracker and exercise fact sheet to determine a safe and effective exercise plan. In the past, some HCM patients have feared exercise, but recent data has shown that exercise is beneficial to people with HCM and is very rarely a cause of sudden cardiac death. The 2024 ACC/AHA HCM Guideline recommends mild to moderate exercise for people with HCM to improve quality of life and ability to do everyday activities.

A recent study has noted significant associations between poor sleep health, such as prolonged or irregular sleep patterns, and major adverse cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality.

Sleep quality has been emerging over the last few years as a strong indicator of long-term health outcomes. Sleep regularity, which is the consistency of sleep-wake timing, has become a possibly stronger predictor of cardiometabolic risk than sleep duration. Additionally, sleep quality is varied between men and women.¹

“Given the known sex-based differences in sleep and cardiovascular risk profiles, it is important to assess whether associations between sleep patterns and outcomes differ by sex to inform personalized prevention strategies,” wrote Soo Jung Park, division of cardiology, department of internal medicine, Hanyang University Medical Center, and colleagues. “However, studies examining the combined effects of sleep duration and quality, along with their sex-specific associations with clinical outcomes, such as mortality and cardiovascular diseases, remain limited.”¹

Conducted at the Hanyang University Medical Center in Korea, investigators utilized data from the Korean Genome Epidemiology Study (KoGES), which took place from 2001-2003. Investigators in the KoGES aimed to develop a comprehensive set of health care guidelines for common complex diseases in Korea. To that end, they investigated possible contributing factors such as smoking, drinking, and diet.²

Investigators for this study initially gathered 10,030 patients from the Ansung-Ansan cohort of the KoGES. Among these, participants with a history of myocardial infarction or stroke at baseline, as well as those without data on sleep duration, regularity, or perceived sufficiency were excluded, which resulted in a final total of 9641 participants. These were then categorized into 3 subgroups based on self-reported sleep duration: <7 hours (n = 4050), 7-8 hours (n = 4811), and >8 hours (n = 780).¹

Participants with longer sleep duration were older, with a mean age of 55.68 +/- 9.1 years, and were more likely to reside in rural areas. There was a lower proportion of men in the short (44.1%) and long (46.7%) sleep groups than in the 7-8 hour group (50.3%, P <.001 for all). Collectively, men reported a slightly longer sleep duration and a higher prevalence of sufficient sleep on average.¹

During a median follow-up of 186 months, investigators observed 1095 deaths and 811 MACEs. Cumulative incidence curves indicated a higher risk of all-cause mortality and MACE in the long sleep group comparatively (P <.001). After adjusting for clinically relevant variables, the long sleep group displayed a significantly higher risk of all-cause mortality compared to those with 7-8 hours (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 1.27; 95% CI, 1.04-1.54; P = .017). The short sleep group saw a non-significant trend towards increased mortality (adjusted HR 1.11; 95% CI, 0.97-1.27; P = .121). Those with irregular sleep also showed a modest but non-significant increase in mortality compared with regular sleepers (adjusted HR 1.1; 95% CI, 0.96-1.27; P = .164). Notably, insufficient sleep was not associated with an increased all-cause mortality risk (adjusted HR 0.98; 95% CI, 0.85-1.13; P = .757).¹

A sex-stratified analysis did not display a significant interaction between sex and sleep patterns, but investigators found some differences between men and women. Men in the long and short sleep groups saw a higher risk of all-cause mortality compared to those with 7-8 hours of sleep, and women saw a higher association for mortality in the long sleep group and with irregular sleep patterns.¹

“Although the interaction between sex and sleep patterns was not statistically significant, stratified analyses suggested potential sex-specific trends,” Park and colleagues wrote. “These patterns may help inform tailored sleep health strategies that consider both sleep characteristics and sex.”¹

References

1. Park, S.J., Park, J., Kim, B.S. et al. The impact of sleep health on cardiovascular and all-cause mortality in the general population. Sci Rep 15, 30034 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-15828-6

2. Kim Y, Han BG; KoGES group. Cohort Profile: The Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study (KoGES) Consortium. Int J Epidemiol. 2017;46(2):e20. doi:10.1093/ije/dyv316