Elsevier

Human Pathology

Volume 23, Issue 8, August 1992, Pages 948-952
Human Pathology

Original contribution
Pathologic evidence of extensive left ventricular involvement in arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy

https://doi.org/10.1016/0046-8177(92)90410-5Get rights and content

Abstract

Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (also known as arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia) is characterized by adipose or fibroadipose tissue replacement of the right ventricular myocardium, whereas the left ventricle is substantively spared. Two cases of the disease with evidence of extensive left ventricular involvement at pathologic examination are described. Hearts from two patients who died suddenly showed full-thickness right ventricular fatty infiltration associated with extensive left ventricular involvement (> 50% of myocardial thickness). These findings might explain the reported clinical features of left ventricle dysfunction in a subset of patients with arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy. In view of the biventricular involvement of the disease, it should simply be termed “arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy.”

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