Contrast echocardiography: contribution to diagnosis of left ventricular non-compaction cardiomyopathy.

Left ventricular non-compaction (LVNC) is a cardiomyopathy considered to be caused by arrest of normal embryogenesis of the endocardium and myocardium. Echocardiography has been the preferred diagnostic procedure; however, the correct diagnosis is often missed or delayed due to the lack of knowledge about this uncommon disease and its similarities to other diseases of the myocardium and endocardium. Here we present two cases: an asymptomatic 39-year-old man who was considered to be suffering from dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) for four years; and an asymptomatic 19-year-old man who was considered to be suffering from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Tissue Doppler imaging for the detection and quantitation of myocardial dysfunction in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Unlabelled: The prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus is rapidly increasing. Myocardial dysfunction may be a consequence of diabetic cardiomyopathy and it contributes to the poor prognosis of diabetic patients.

Aims: This study was designed to test whether tissue Doppler imaging might be a suitable tool for early detection of myocardial dysfunction in diabetic patients.