Skip Navigation


European Journal of Echocardiography Advance Access originally published online on August 27, 2008
European Journal of Echocardiography 2009 10(2):325-328; doi:10.1093/ejechocard/jen227
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Supplementary Data
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
10/2/325    most recent
jen227v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Abecasis, J.
Right arrow Articles by Silva, A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Abecasis, J.
Right arrow Articles by Silva, A.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. © The Author 2008. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org.

Utility of tissue characterization in apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy diagnosis

João Abecasis*, Raquel Dourado, Isabel Arroja, José Azevedo and Aniceto Silva

Cardiologia, Centro Hospitalar de Lisboa Ocidental, Rua Professor Reynaldo dos Santos, 2795-523 Carnaxide, Portugal

Received 16 March 2008; accepted after revision 8 August 2008; online publish-ahead-of-print 27 August 2008.

* Corresponding author. Tel: +351914054977 (J.A.)/+351914952818 (R.D.); fax: +351214241388 E-mail address: joaoabecasis{at}hotmail.com (J.A.)/raqueldourado{at}yahoo.com (R.D.).


  Abstract

A 60-year-old male with previous hypertension, left ventricle hypertrophy, and coronary artery disease was referred for stress echocardiography because of exertional chest pain. The electrocardiogram revealed deep T-wave inversion in the anterolateral leads. Contrast echocardiography was notable for an apical filling defect consistent with the apical form of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Cardiac magnetic resonance demonstrated the ‘ace of spades’ left ventricle cavity, confirming the diagnosis. Single photon emission computed tomography showed increased apical left ventricle tracer uptake. Velocity vector imaging study depicted lower than normal absolute maximal longitudinal tissue velocities. The apical longitudinal strain was negative without base to apex gradient. There were normal longitudinal strain values in the basal and mid myocardial segments (Figure 1). Apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a rare condition occasionally missed by conventional echocardiographic studies. Intravenous contrast enhancement might improve diagnosis accuracy. Newer Doppler-based techniques allowing tissue characterization may complement contrast echocardiography in its diagnosis.

Keywords: Apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy; Velocity vector imaging; Tissue characterization


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.