Usefulness of cardiac calcification on two-dimensional echocardiography for distinguishing ischaemic from nonischaemic dilated cardiomyopathy: a preliminary report

Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine
Pompilio FaggianoLivio Dei Cas

Abstract

Aortic valve calcification (AVC) and/or mitral annulus calcification (MAC) is considered to be a marker of atherosclerosis and has been demonstrated to predict cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. We hypothesized that the presence of cardiac calcification by echocardiography can be used in the differential diagnosis between ischaemic (DCMI+) and nonischaemic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCMI-). We evaluated 62 patients with DCM (38 males, mean age 66 +/- 10 years, LVEF < 40%), without any prior history of myocardial infarction or coronary intervention, who were undergoing coronary angiography for aetiological diagnosis. DCMI+ was considered present when a > or = 70% stenosis of at least one coronary artery was found. AVC, MAC, aortic wall and papillary muscle calcifications were semiquantitatively assessed by two-dimensional echocardiographic examination with a calcium score ranging from 0 (no calcifications) to 8 (calcium in all four sites). DCMI+ was found in 20 out of 62 patients. As expected, there were no differences in LVEF and LV end-diastolic diameters between DCMI+ and DCMI--patients (29 +/- 8% versus 31 +/- 10% and 66 +/- 6 versus 68 +/- 8 mm, respectively; not significant). Regional wall motion abnormalities and conven...Continue Reading

References

Sep 1, 1986·The American Journal of Cardiology·W C Roberts
Dec 23, 1971·The New England Journal of Medicine·P A McKeeW B Kannel
Oct 1, 1984·Journal of the American College of Cardiology·D E WallisP J Scanlon
Jun 1, 1997·Journal of the American College of Cardiology·J A RumbergerR S Schwartz
Nov 11, 1998·Journal of the American College of Cardiology·M J BudoffB H Brundage
Jan 5, 1999·The American Journal of Cardiology·R S FinkelhorR C Bahler
Jul 15, 1999·The New England Journal of Medicine·C M OttoD S Siscovick
Feb 6, 2002·Current Cardiology Reports·Kelley R BranchCatherine M Otto
Dec 31, 2002·The American Journal of Cardiology·Pompilio FaggianoGian Luigi Nicolosi
Mar 26, 2003·Circulation·Caroline S FoxUNKNOWN Framingham Heart Study
Oct 1, 1964·American Heart Journal·M E TAVEL, C FISCH

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Citations

Jan 8, 2015·Congenital Heart Disease·Dan G HalpernStephen P Sanders
Jul 4, 2006·Cardiovascular Ultrasound·Pompilio FaggianoLivio Dei Cas
Mar 9, 2019·European Journal of Preventive Cardiology·Pompilio FaggianoGregg Pressman

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Cardiomyopathy

Cardiomyopathy is a disease of the heart muscle, that can lead to muscular or electrical dysfunction of the heart. It is often an irreversible disease that is associated with a poor prognosis. There are different causes and classifications of cardiomyopathies. Here are the latest discoveries pertaining to this disease.