Advanced quantitative echocardiography in arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy.

Arrhythmogenic right ventricular (RV) cardiomyopathy (ARVC) is a regional disease of the RV myocardium with variable degrees of left ventricular involvement. Three-dimensional echocardiography and Doppler tissue imaging (DTI) are new echocardiographic modalities for the evaluation of global and regional function, but the diagnostic potential remains to be assessed.Twenty patients with previously established ARVC were evaluated by 3-dimensional echocardiography and DTI, and compared with 32 age- and sex-matched control subjects.Using 3-dimensional echocardiography, patients with ARVC had a decreased RV ejection fraction (0.47 +/- 0.08 vs 0.53 +/- 0.05, P < .01), and a decreased peak lateral systolic annular velocity by pulsed wave imaging of both the RV (11.9 +/- 2.6 vs 15.1 +/- 3.7 cm/s, P < .01) and the left ventricle (7.0 +/- 2.6 vs 9.5 +/- 1.9 cm/s, P < .01). DTI showed decreased regional systolic strain, but with wide variation in the measurements.Three-dimensional echocardiography identifies decreased RV ejection fraction in ARVC. Assessment of regional contractility by DTI is limited by wide variation. Echocardiographic evaluation of the longitudinal motility appears to be a sensitive marker of preclinical left ventricular involvement.