Isolated left ventricular apical hypoplasia: a new congenital anomaly described with cardiac tomography.

OBJECTIVE To describe cardiac tomography findings of an apparently new, presumably congenital, left ventricular (LV) abnormality noted consistently in three patients. PATIENTS Three patients presenting with non-specific symptoms including fatigue, shortness of breath, or chest discomfort were evaluated with cardiac tomography for cardiac structure and function. RESULTS Findings from the three patients were very similar: a truncated and spherical LV with abnormal diastolic and systolic function, invagination of fatty material into the myocardium of the defective LV apex, origin of a complex papillary network in the anteroapical LV, and an elongated right ventricle wrapping around the deficient apex. CONCLUSIONS Isolated LV apical hypoplasia is a unique, presumably congenital, cardiac anomaly that is an important condition to recognise.