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[Echocardiographic findings and function analysis of the left ventricle in infants with endocardial fibroelastosis
Insights
Echocardiography revealed enlarged left ventricular (LV) diameter and reduced function in infants with endocardial fibroelastosis (EFE). These echocardiographic findings are typical but not diagnostic for EFE.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Cardiology
- Echocardiography
- Cardiac Physiology
Context:
- Endocardial fibroelastosis (EFE) is a rare cardiac condition affecting infants.
- Echocardiography is a key diagnostic tool in pediatric cardiology.
- Hemodynamic and angiocardiographic findings are typically used to diagnose EFE.
Purpose:
- To assess the utility of echocardiography in diagnosing endocardial fibroelastosis (EFE) in infants.
- To compare echocardiographic parameters between infants with EFE and healthy controls.
Summary:
- Echocardiograms of 7 infants with EFE were compared to 8 healthy infants.
- EFE patients exhibited a nearly doubled LV diameter, posterior mitral valve displacement, and abnormal septal motion.
- Reduced shortening fraction, increased LPEP/LVET quotient, prolonged isovolumetric contraction time, and decreased peak Vcf were observed in EFE patients.
Impact:
- Echocardiography provides a typical, though not pathognomonic, pattern for EFE diagnosis.
- The study highlights specific echocardiographic markers indicative of EFE in infants.
- Echocardiographic findings in this study do not offer prognostic information for EFE.
Abstract:
7 infants with the clinical picture and the typical hemodynamic and angiocardiographic findings of endocardial fibroelastosis were studied echocardiographically. The echocardiograms were digitized and analyzed by the method of Gibson and Brown and compared with those of 8 normal infants. The echoes of EFE-patients showed a nearly twice as large LV-diameter. The mitral valve was displaced posteriorly, the septal motion in 4 of them abnormal. The shortening fraction was significantly reduced, the LPEP/LVET quotient increased. The comparison of LPEP with the Q to mitral valve closing interval revealed a considerable prolongation of isovolumetric contraction time. The result of computer analysis was a decrease of peak Vcf and maximum lengthening rate. The echocardiographic pattern is typical but not pathognomonic, it gives no prognostic information.