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Thrombi in left ventricular hypertrabeculation/noncompaction--review of the literature
Claudia Stöllberger1, Josef Finsterer
1Krankenanstalt Rudolfstiftung, 2nd Medical Department, Juchgasse 25, A-1030 Wien, Austria. claudia.stoellberger@chello.at
Insights
Thrombus formation is rare in left ventricular hypertrabeculation/noncompaction (LVHT). LVHT alone does not warrant anticoagulation, but co-existing conditions like atrial fibrillation require standard treatment.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Pathology
Background:
- Left ventricular hypertrabeculation/noncompaction (LVHT) is characterized by prominent trabeculations and deep recesses.
- Interventricular recesses in LVHT are suspected sites for thrombus formation, but prevalence data are lacking.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the prevalence of thrombus formation in hearts with left ventricular hypertrabeculation/noncompaction.
Main Methods:
- A Medline search identified pathoanatomical studies of LVHT hearts.
- Studies describing coronary artery connections to recesses were excluded.
Main Results:
- Pathoanatomical findings from 37 LVHT hearts were analyzed.
- Only 2 out of 37 hearts showed thrombus formation.
- Nine patients had prior embolic events, often with co-existing risk factors like atrial fibrillation or left ventricular dysfunction.
Conclusions:
- Thrombus formation is an infrequent complication of LVHT.
- LVHT itself is not an indication for oral anticoagulation.
- Concurrent cardiac conditions increasing embolism risk necessitate standard management.
Objective:
Left ventricular hypertrabeculation/noncompaction (LVHT) is diagnosed when numerous, excessively prominent trabeculations and deep interventricular recesses are found in the left ventricle. Although it is assumed that the intertrabecular recesses are a location prone to thrombus formation, the prevalence of thrombi in LVHT hearts is unknown.
Methods:
A Medline research was carried out looking for reports of pathoanatomical investigations of LVHT hearts. Excluded were reports in which a connection between the coronary arteries with the intertrabecular recesses were described.
Results:
In 22 articles pathoanatomical findings of 37 hearts were described (9 women, 27 men, 1 not indicated). The age ranged from 26 gestational weeks to 80 years. Twenty-four hearts were investigated by autopsy, 13 as explanted hearts. The left ventricle was dilated in 29 patients. In 9 patients, a previous embolic event had occurred. All 9 patients had additional risk factors for embolism such as atrial fibrillation (n = 1), left ventricular dysfunction (n = 5) or atrial fibrillation and left ventricular dysfunction (n = 3). In only 2 patients, a thrombus was detected pathoanatomically.
Conclusions:
Thrombus-formation is a rare event in patients with LVHT. From these data we infer that LVHT in itself is no indication for oral anticoagulation. However, if additional cardiac abnormalities, known to increase the risk of embolism, like atrial fibrillation or left ventricular systolic dysfunction, accompany LVHT, they have to be treated as usual.
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