CLINICAL PROFILE OF CONCEALED FORM OF ARRHYTHMOGENIC RIGHT VENTRICULAR CARDIOMYOPATHY PRESENTING WITH APPARENTLY IDIOPATHIC VENTRICULAR ARRHYTHMIAS

In 24 subjects presenting with apparently idiopathic ventricular arrhythmias, a final diagnosis of arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy was formulated following global evaluation of the clinical, cross-sectional echocardiography and angiographic findings, and the observation of myocardial atrophy with fibrous-fatty substitution in right ventricular endomyocardial biopsy. All patients had good effort tolerance, and a normal cardiac silhouette. Ventricular arrhythmias with a left bundle branch block pattern were present in 23 cases (sustained ventricular tachycardia, nonsustained ventricular tachycardia, ventricualr couplets, and ventricular premature complexes); 1 patient experienced an episode of ventricular fibrillation. A nearly constant electrocardiographic feature was T wave negativity in the right precordial leads. Cross-sectional echocardiography and hemodynamic studies showed that right ventricular impairment consisted only of localized structural and dynamic abnormalities; in a few cases the left ventricle was segmentally involved. Familial occurrence was present in 29% of the cases. No case of sudden death was observed during follow-up. These findings confirm that the concealed form of arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy is a cause of so-called "idiopathic" ventricular arrhythmias in subjects with apparently "normal hearts". Echocardiographic and angiographic investigations may lead to the correct diagnosis.