Objectives Analysing and summarising the clinical and echocardiographic characteristics of male patients with apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (ApHCM).

Methods Male patients with ApHCM patients who were diagnosed by echocardiography or magnetic resonance imaging between Januray 1994 and Januray 2009 at Fuwai hospital were consecutively enrolled in this study.

Results A total of 153 male patients with ApHCM were enrolled, and the average age is (51.3 ± 11.6) years.The proportions of patients complicated by chest pain, dyspnea, palpitation and syncope are 24.84% (38 cases), 64.71% (99 cases), 26.14% (40 cases) and 8.50% (13 cases), respectively. The incidence of palpitation and dyspnea is higher in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) (P < 0.05). Compared with patients without AF, patients with AF have greater LAD (42.6 mm ± 8.0 mm vs 36.7 mm ± 5.4 mm, P = 0.003) and LVEDd (34.3 mm ± 3.2 mm vs 29.4 mm ± 4.6 mm, P < 0.001), higher NYHA class (2.2 ± 1.1 vs 1.5 ± 0.6, P = 0.008) and lower LVEF (60.3% ± 9.6% vs 67.8% ± 9.1%, P = 0.008).

Conclusions There is a high incidence of dyspnea in male ApHCM patients, and the incidence of palpitation and dyspnea may be increased by AF. Cardiac remodelling is more serious in patients with AF and the impairment of cardiac function may be aggravated by AF.