Left ventricle myocardial mechanics and textural properties in patients with Williams syndrome.

Objective: To study left ventricular mechanics and textural properties in patients with Williams syndrome to define the impact of left ventricular hypertrophy on the functional findings.

Methods: Echocardiography was performed in 16 Williams syndrome patients (aged 1-25 years, mean 10 +/- 6 years), four with associated supravalvular aortic stenosis and seven with systemic hypertension. Fifteen age- and body surface area-matched subjects were selected as control group.

Myocardial ultrasound tissue characterization in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: noninvasive evidence of electrical and textural substrate for ventricular arrhythmias.

Background: Although in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) pathologic studies seem to suggest a correlation between morphologic findings and arrhythmias, it has never been confirmed in the clinical setting.

Objective: We sought to noninvasively assess the electrical and textural properties of the myocardium and to define their potential relationship in patients with HCM.

Methods: We studied 48 patients: 22 with HCM (mean age: 22 +/- 5.