A CASE OF ARRHYTHMOGENIC RIGHT-VENTRICULAR DYSPLASIA WITH LEFT AND RIGHT-VENTRICULAR HYPOFUNCTION IN AN ELDERLY SUBJECT - LONG-TERM FOLLOW-UP

A 72 year-old man was admitted with palpitations caused by sustained v entricular tachycardia. He had been followed for 27 years, with admiss ions on 7 occasions, on account of ventricular tachycardias, atrial fi brillation, and congestive heart failure. Electrophysiologic examinati on detected 2 points of origin of ventricular tachycardia in the right and left ventricles. During the examination a myocardial infarction l ed to death. At autopsy, most areas of the right ventricle and the lef t ventricular apex were found to have been replaced by fatty tissue, p ointing to severe fatty infiltration into the myocardium. Thus, this p atient represented a unique cause of arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia (ARVD) with severe fatty degeneration causing progression of ARVD. It is important that a diagnosis of ARVD is made carefully and rigorously in elderly subjects.