I was referred to a specialist in HCM at Penn because my local cardiologist had never seen anyone with as much thickening as I have without having any symptoms at all, LOL. One of the things that they told me is that if my kids are genetically tested, they will have a problem getting life insurance in the future or will have to exclude cardiac arrest from their life insurance if they come up positive, so we're holding off for now until they are done with college and into their professional lives, and they will just have to get annual echoes. Both were normal this year.
My father passed away this summer at 84. He had lots of heart issues (which is why my wife pushed me to get a cardiology exam in the first place given that my age is advancing faster than I'd like to admit...), but this was not one of his issues. In discussing this with my family, I found that a cousin on my mom's side tested positive for the gene mutation but does not have HCM, but I guess that means the mutation is probably from my mom's side. My mom is 78 and she is perfectly healthy. None of her family to her knowledge has ever died from cardiac arrest. Her parents both lived full lives (my grandpa died in his 80s from Parkinsons, my grandma lived to 95).