Echocardiographic characteristics of pediatric preexcitation cardiomyopathy.

Preexcitation cardiomyopathy is a rare cardiac anomaly but it can be life threatening. It may occur in type B preexcitation syndrome. A patients with this condition typically has an enlarged left ventricle and reduced systolic function without tachycardia-associated cardiomyopathy. Echocardiography plays an important role in diagnosis in identifying this condition by revealing the "rebounce" movement of the inter-ventricular septum (IVS). We report echocardiographic findings of five pediatric patients with preexcitation cardiomyopathy. All of them had a radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFCA) and recovered during the follow-up.