Cerebrovascular events in left ventricular hypertrabeculation/noncompaction with and without myopathy

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Neurology
• Radiology

Background:

• Left-ventricular hypertrabeculation/noncompaction (LVHT) is a congenital cardiomyopathy with poorly understood stroke associations.
• Limited data exists on the frequency, imaging characteristics, and underlying causes of stroke in LVHT patients.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the incidence of stroke in LVHT patients.
• To characterize cerebral imaging abnormalities in LVHT patients with stroke.
• To compare cardiac and neuromuscular findings between LVHT patients with and without stroke.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective review of medical records for stroke diagnosis based on clinical evaluation and neuroimaging (CT/MRI).
• Analysis of cerebral CT and MRI findings in patients with diagnosed stroke.
• Comparison of clinical characteristics between stroke and non-stroke LVHT patient groups.

Main Results:

• Stroke was diagnosed in 16% of 104 LVHT patients, including transient ischemic attacks and ischemic deficits.
• Cerebral imaging revealed territorial strokes, lacunar strokes, and intracerebral bleeding, alongside other findings like atrophy and microangiopathy.
• No significant differences in cardiac or neuromuscular abnormalities were observed between stroke and non-stroke LVHT patient groups.

Conclusions:

• Systematic investigation reveals stroke is a common comorbidity in LVHT.
• While stroke occurs frequently, a direct causal relationship with LVHT is exceptional rather than the norm.