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.

Methods: 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.

Conclusions: 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.