Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 1, 2025

Intracoronary Acetylcholine Provocation Testing for Assessment of Coronary Vasomotor Disorders
Published on: August 18, 2016
Cardiac manifestation is evident in chorea-acanthocytosis but different from McLeod syndrome
Silvio Quick1, Felix Matthias Heidrich2, Max-Valentin Winkler2
1Department of Cardiology, Angiology and Intensive Care, Klinikum Chemnitz gGmbH, Medizincampus Chemnitz der Technischen Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
Insights
Cardiac involvement is revealed in chorea-acanthocytosis (ChAc) and McLeod syndrome (MLS). MLS shows a higher risk of heart failure and arrhythmias compared to ChAc, necessitating specific cardiac assessments for both neuroacanthocytosis conditions.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Cardiology
- Genetics
Background:
- Neuroacanthocytosis (NA) encompasses Chorea-Acanthocytosis (ChAc) and McLeod Syndrome (MLS).
- Cardiac involvement was previously considered a hallmark primarily of MLS.
- Limited data exists on cardiac manifestations in ChAc.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate and compare cardiac manifestations in ChAc and MLS.
- To identify differences in cardiac involvement between these two NA syndromes.
- To establish disease-specific recommendations for cardiac assessment in ChAc and MLS.
Main Methods:
- Studied six ChAc patients and six MLS patients.
- Cardiac evaluation included echocardiography, cardiac MRI, 24-h ECG, and cardiac biomarkers.
- Assessed left ventricular function, arrhythmias, and troponin levels.
Main Results:
- Four of six ChAc patients showed cardiac involvement, including reduced LVEF and LV dilatation.
- Four of five MLS patients exhibited LV dilatation, reduced LVEF, and ventricular tachycardia.
- Elevated high-sensitive troponin T was observed in most patients; troponin I was elevated in a subset.
Conclusions:
- Cardiac involvement is present in ChAc, with a seemingly lower risk of heart failure than in MLS.
- MLS demonstrates a malignant cardiac profile with significant arrhythmias and heart failure progression.
- Disease-specific cardiac assessment protocols are recommended for ChAc and MLS patients.
Introduction:
We aimed to study the various cardiac manifestations of the two core neuroacanthocytosis (NA) syndromes, namely chorea-acanthocytosis (ChAc) and McLeod syndrome (MLS). So far, cardiac involvement has been described as specific feature only for MLS.
Methods:
We studied six patients with ChAc (mean age 44.5 years, five men, one woman) and six patients with MLS (mean age 57.1 years, all men). Cardiac evaluation included echocardiography and/or cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (cardiac MRI), 24-h ECG-recording and examination of cardiac biomarkers.
Results:
Cardiac involvement of ChAc was found in four of six patients. Two patients showed mildly reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), two other patients mild to moderate left ventricular (LV) dilatation. Neither an increase in ventricular ectopic beats nor ventricular tachycardia were evident in ChAc. Four of five MLS patients showed left ventricle dilatation and reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). Two of these, in addition, had critical ventricular tachycardia. High sensitive troponin T was elevated in all patients, for whom data were available (n = 10). In contrast, elevation of high sensitive troponin I was found in one of six ChAc and one of two MLS patients.
Conclusion:
For the first time, we reveal cardiac involvement in a cohort of six ChAc patients, while the risk to develop heart failure seems lower than in MLS. Our study confirms the malignant nature of MLS in terms of ventricular arrhythmias and progression to advanced heart failure. Herein, we define disease-specific recommendations for cardiac assessment in both conditions.
More Related Videos
06:48Fingerprinting Cardiolipin in Leukocytes by Mass Spectrometry for a Rapid Diagnosis of Barth Syndrome
Published on: March 23, 2022
09:16Isolation and Characterization of Cardiac Mesenchymal Stromal Cells from Endomyocardial Bioptic Samples of Arrhythmogenic Cardiomyopathy Patients
Published on: February 28, 2018
Related Concept Videos
Cardiomyopathy II: Dilated Cardiomyopathy
Cardiomyopathy III: Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy
Mechanism of Cardiac Arrhythmias
Acute Coronary Syndrome II: Pathophysiology and Clinical Manifestations
Cardiomyopathy I: Introduction and Classification
Coronary Artery Disease III: Clinical Manifestations