Arrhythmogenic right and left ventricular disease: evaluation by computed tomography and nuclear magnetic resonance imaging.

Ventricular tachycardia may represent the first sign of an unknown cardiomyopathy; fewer data are available on the anatomical substrate of the arrhythmia. The aim of the study was to characterize better those patients who usually do not have haemodynamic impairment, but in whom the arrhythmia may be severely invalidating. To that purpose, two recent and sophisticated radiological methods were used, computed tomography (CT) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR); both methods allowed a precise characterization of the morphology and function of the right and left ventricle; a tissue analysis was performed that identified regions of lipomatous degeneration both in the right and the left ventricle, particularly with NMR. In conclusion, CT and particularly NMR appear to be able to reveal minimal changes suggestive of a right and/or left cardiomyopathy whose first manifestation is ventricular tachycardias.