title: Magnetic resonance assessment of prevalence and correlates of right ventricular abnormalities in isolated left ventricular noncompaction.
abstract: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the prevalence and correlates of right ventricular (RV) noncompaction (RVNC), RV systolic dysfunction, and RV myocardial fibrosis in patients with isolated left ventricular (LV) noncompaction (LVNC). For this purpose, cine and contrast-enhanced cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used. A total of 56 consecutive patients with isolated LVNC were included in the study. The diagnosis of isolated LVNC was based on the presence of standard cardiac MRI and clinical criteria. For each patient, cine and contrast-enhanced cardiac MR images were analyzed to evaluate the prevalence and correlates of RVNC, RV dysfunction, and late gadolinium enhancement (a surrogate of myocardial fibrosis) involving the RV. Mean age of the patient population was 45 ± 19 years; 35 patients (63%) were men. RVNC was observed in 5 patients (9%). Impaired RV systolic function was observed in 9 patients (16%). Late gadolinium enhancement was not observed in any RV segment. No association was found between wall motion abnormalities and noncompaction at RV segmental level (φ coefficient 0.041, p = 0.26). At multivariate analysis, LV ejection fraction was the only variable independently related to RV ejection fraction (β = 0.62, p <0.001). In conclusion, RV systolic dysfunction is present in a non-negligible proportion of patients with isolated LVNC; LV systolic function is the only variable independently related to RV systolic function.
authors.affiliation: Cardiothoracic Department, University Hospital "Santa Maria della Misericordia," Udine, Italy. Electronic address: gnucifora@cardionet.it.
authors.forename: Gaetano
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Nucifora
authors.affiliation: Magnetic Resonance Imaging Department, Fondazione Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche/Regione Toscana "Gabriele Monasterio," Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Aquaro
authors.affiliation: Magnetic Resonance Imaging Department, Fondazione Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche/Regione Toscana "Gabriele Monasterio," Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Pier Giorgio
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Masci
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Physiology, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pingitore
authors.affiliation: Magnetic Resonance Imaging Department, Fondazione Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche/Regione Toscana "Gabriele Monasterio," Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lombardi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D056830:Isolated Noncompaction of the Ventricular Myocardium / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D019028:Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Cine / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D016278:Ventricular Function, Right / Q000502:physiology*