When is early septal myectomy in children with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy justified?

Pediatric cardiomyopathy is a debilitating disease that leads to pump failure and sudden death; in fact, it is the leading cause of heart failure in children (1). Cardiomyopathy and heart failure in infants and children remain serious population health crises for children and their families and confer a great cost burden on society (2-5). In the United States, the estimated annual incidence of congenital cardiovascular malformations or cardiomyopathy in infants, children, and adolescents less than 19 years old is between 12,000 and 35,000 (6).