Authors:
L. D'Errico1, G. Aquaro1, A. Pingitore1, E. Strata2, G. Di Bella3, S. Molinaro1, M. Lombardi1, C. Bartolozzi1; 1Pisa/IT, 2Firenze/IT, 3Messina/IT
DOI:
10.1594/ecr2011/C-2073
Purpose
Premature ventricular complexes (PVCs) of left bundle branch block (LBBB) morphology and inferior axis arise from the right ventricular (RV) outflow tract or,
less frequently,
from the higher portion of the interventricular septum.
PVCs of such morphology constitute a manifestation of idiopathic RV tachycardia (IRVT) or an initial arrhythmic manifestation of arrhythmogenic RV cardiomyopathy/ dysplasia (ARVC/D).
These 2 diseases initially have similar manifestations but are completely opposite in terms of the prognosis.
IRVT is a disease with excellent prognosis,
whereas ARVC/D is characterized by a great risk of sudden cardiac death,
especially in young people involved in competitive sports.
CMR is a component of the diagnostic work up for the differential diagnosis between ARVC/D and idiopathic RV tachycardia.
RV abnormalities evaluated by CMR could have prognostic importance.
We investigated whether the presence of RV abnormalities detected by cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) predict adverse outcome in patients presenting with frequent PVCs of LBBB morphology.