title: [Clinical features of latent dilated cardiomyopathy].
abstract: To identify the evidence of presymptomatic manifestations of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), we studied 30 patients with latent DCM (mean 37 +/- 14 years) who satisfied the following criteria: 1) left ventricular (LV) systolic function was slightly reduced; 2) LV end-diastolic dimension (< 54 mm) and coronary arteries were normal. The incidence of ECG abnormalities was relatively high; nonspecific ST-T changes were the most common (90%). The incidence of grade 3 or 4 ventricular premature contractions according to Lown's classification on 24 hour ambulatory ECGs was 50%. Perfusion defects were observed in 83% on the thallium-201 images. Right ventricular biopsy showed that the interstitial fibrosis was milder (9 +/- 9%) in the study subjects than in 32 patients with DCM (17 +/- 8%) who were treated in our hospital, but there were no significant differences in the diameters of the myofibers (15 +/- 4 vs 17 +/- 4 microns) between the 2 groups. During the follow-up study, deterioration of LV dysfunction was observed in 3 patients. One patient died suddenly. These findings proved the importance of the early detection and characterization of latent state of DCM.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Himeji Cardiovascular Center.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Takarada
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kurogane
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Minamiji
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mori
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hayashi
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fujimoto
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yokota
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fukuzaki
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001706:Biopsy; D002311:Cardiomyopathy, Dilated / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D004452:Echocardiography; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006321:Heart / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006439:Hemodynamics; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009206:Myocardium / Q000473:pathology; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D013794:Thallium Radioisotopes
chemical_list: D013794:Thallium Radioisotopes