Stöllberger Claudia, Finsterer Josef
2nd Medical Department, Krankenanstalt Rudolfstiftung, Juchgasse 25, 1030 Wien, Austria.
Eur J Echocardiogr. 2011 Feb;12(2):E8. doi: 10.1093/ejechocard/jeq110. Epub 2010 Sep 28.
Left ventricular non-compaction is a cardiac abnormality whose echocardiographic diagnostic criteria are still controversial. The distinction between normal and pathologic is additionally impeded by the fact that the left ventricular myocardium is more intensively trabeculated in African blacks than in Caucasians. The impact of these uncertainties and unresolved issues in the diagnosis of non-compaction is illustrated by a 23-year-old professional African footballer in whom an aberrant left ventricular band was misinterpreted as non-compaction. The diagnosis of non-compaction resulted in the immediate withdrawal of the playing licence and impending deportation of the young man from Germany to his home country. Organized by the footballer's lawyer, repeated echocardiographies and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging failed to diagnose non-compaction. After several months, the young man regained his playing licence and played as a striker in the national team of his country of origin in the football world cup. Uncertainties and unresolved issues may result in misdiagnosis of non-compaction, thus promoting discrimination and degradation. This case highlights the urgent need for standardization of diagnostic criteria for left ventricular non-compaction and to assess if they need to be different for African blacks and Caucasians.
左心室心肌致密化不全是一种心脏异常疾病，其超声心动图诊断标准仍存在争议。正常与病理性情况之间的区分因以下事实而更加复杂：与白种人相比，非洲黑人的左心室心肌小梁化程度更高。一名23岁的非洲职业足球运动员就说明了这些不确定性以及致密化不全诊断中未解决的问题，该运动员的一条异常左心室带被误诊为致密化不全。致密化不全的诊断导致该年轻人的比赛执照立即被吊销，并即将被从德国驱逐回其祖国。在足球运动员的律师组织下，多次超声心动图检查和心脏磁共振成像均未能诊断出致密化不全。几个月后，这位年轻人恢复了比赛执照，并作为前锋参加了其祖国国家队的世界杯足球赛。不确定性和未解决的问题可能导致致密化不全的误诊，从而加剧歧视和不公正对待。该案例凸显了迫切需要对左心室心肌致密化不全的诊断标准进行标准化，并评估非洲黑人和白种人的诊断标准是否需要有所不同。
