[Clinical features of latent dilated cardiomyopathy].
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.
Takarada
A
A
Department of Cardiology, Himeji Cardiovascular Center.
Kurogane
H
H
Minamiji
K
K
Ito
S
S
Mori
T
T
Hayashi
T
T
Fujimoto
T
T
Yoshida
Y
Y
Yokota
Y
Y
Fukuzaki
H
H
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
D013794:Thallium Radioisotopes