Isolated left ventricular apical hypoplasia: a new congenital anomaly described with cardiac tomography.

OBJECTIVE

To describe cardiac tomography findings of an apparently new, presumably congenital, left ventricular (LV) abnormality noted consistently in three patients.

PATIENTS: Three patients presenting with non-specific symptoms including fatigue, shortness of breath, or chest discomfort were evaluated with cardiac tomography for cardiac structure and function.

RESULTS

Findings from the three patients were very similar: a truncated and spherical LV with abnormal diastolic and systolic function, invagination of fatty material into the myocardium of the defective LV apex, origin of a complex papillary network in the anteroapical LV, and an elongated right ventricle wrapping around the deficient apex.

CONCLUSIONS

Isolated LV apical hypoplasia is a unique, presumably congenital, cardiac anomaly that is an important condition to recognise.