ARRHYTHMOGENIC RIGHT-VENTRICULAR DYSPLASIA - EVALUATION WITH ELECTRON-BEAM CT

The authors evaluated four cases of arrhythmogenic right ventricular d ysplasia (ARVD) with electron-beam computed tomography (CT). Except fo r magnetic resonance imaging, noninvasive imaging techniques such as t wo-dimensional echocardiography and radionuclide angiography cannot al ways depict the abnormal morphology of the right ventricle. Definite d iagnosis of ARVD requires the use of invasive cardiac cineangiography. Proper identification of right ventricular involvement in ARVD with C T helps in the diagnosis. Volume-mode CT clearly depicted an enlarged right ventricle with a scalloped surface of the free wall, conspicuous trabeculations with low attenuation, and abundant epicardial adipose tissue, which are characteristics of ARVD. Cine-mode CT revealed reduc ed right ventricle function and abnormal wall motion. The authors prop ose that millisecond-order, electron-beam CT is a suitable noninvasive examination for evaluafing the morphologic characteristics of the rig ht ventricle and its function in ARVD.