Usefulness of Biplanar Transesophageal Echocardiography in Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Dysplasia

This study evaluated the clinical usefulness of biplanar transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) in suspected arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia (ARVD). Seven symptomatic subjects (3 male and 4 female: ages 18-64 years, mean 45) with clinical features of ARVD (typical ventricular arrhythmias) underwent comprehensive noninvasive assessment including transthoracic echocardiography (TTE), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and TEE. Other systemic and cardiac diseases were reasonably excluded. TEE identified a significant right ventricular regional alteration in one subject with negative TTE and NMR, and nonsignificant abnormalities in two subjects with negative or no TTE and positive NMR. TEE confirmed the pathological findings detected by TTE in the four remaining patients and visualized several more abnormalities that approximately corresponded to NMR results. On the basis of these initial results, biplanar TEE appears to be comparable to NMR in the assessment of ARVD and a promising technique in identifying ARVD morphological alterations. (ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY, Volume 13, January 1996)