Fatal hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in the fetus of a woman with diabetes.

BACKGROUND

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is recognized in infants of diabetic mothers, and when it occurs it is generally benign and transient. We describe a case of fetal cardiac death caused by hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in an infant of a diabetic mother.

CASE: Hydrops fetalis caused by hypertrophic cardiomyopathy resulted in the death of a macrosomic male fetus of a young woman who had well-controlled diabetes mellitus and was treated with insulin therapy during pregnancy.

CONCLUSION

It is important to monitor fetal heart function in macrosomic infants of diabetic mothers. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy might explain otherwise unexplained fetal deaths in women with diabetes.