Gender differences in right ventricular function in patients with non-ischaemic cardiomyopathy.

AIM: To evaluate sex-related differences in right ventricular (RV) function, assessed with cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, in patients with stable non-ischaemic dilated cardiomyopathy. METHODS: Prospective multicentre study. We included 71 patients (38 men) and 14 healthy volunteers. RESULTS: Mean age was 60.9 ± 12.2 years. Men presented higher levels of haemoglobin and white blood cell counts than women, and performed better in cardiopulmonary stress testing. A total of 24 patients (12 women) presented severe left ventricular (LV) systolic dysfunction, 32 (13 female) moderate and 15 (8 women) mild LV systolic dysfunction. In the group with severe LV systolic dysfunction, average right ventricular ejection fraction (RVEF) was normal in women (52 ± 4 %), whereas it was reduced in men (39 ± 3 %) p = 0.035. Only one woman (8 %) had severe RV systolic dysfunction (RVEF < 35 %) compared with 6 men (50 %) p < 0.001. In patients with moderate and mild LV dysfunction , the mean RVEF was normal in both men and women. In the 14 healthy volunteers, the lowest value of RVEF was 48 % and mean RVEF was normal in women (56 ± 2 %) and in men (51 ± 1 %), p = 0.08. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with dilated cardiomyopathy, RV systolic dysfunction is found mainly in male patients with severe LV systolic dysfunction.

Unipolar mapping and magnetic resonance imaging of "idiopathic" right ventricular outflow tract ectopy.

Radiofrequency catheter ablation of symptomatic ventricular ectopy guided by unipolar mapping was successfully accomplished at the right ventricular outflow tract in a patient who did not exhibit apparent structural heart disease. A "QS" morphology with a fast slope of the downstroke deflection at the successful ablation site was observed on the unipolar electrogram. Focal thinning of the lateral wall of the right ventricular outflow tract was shown in the magnetic resonance image, similar to that reported in patients with "idiopathic" right ventricular outflow tract tachycardia.

[Biventricular diverticulosis associated with rheumatic heart disease: apropos of a case]. / Diverticulosis biventricular asociada a cardiopatía reumática: a propósito de un caso.

We report a case of a 58-year-old woman with rheumatic mitral stenosis scheduled for percutaneous valvuloplasty. Prior left and right ventricular angiograms showed multiple diverticula at left ventricular apical and diaphragmatic walls and right ventricular diaphragmatic wall. Chest x-ray and echocardiogram were normal. Magnetic resonance imaging was concordant with catheterization findings and ruled out other cardiac malformations. The risk of ventricular perforation changed our indication of percutaneous valvuloplasty in favor of open heart commissurotomy.