Isolated ventricular apical hypoplasia: A report of four cases and literature review.

Isolated ventricular apical hypoplasia (IVAH) is a rare congenital cardiac anomaly, with clinical manifestations depending on the age of the patient, ranging from no symptoms in children to congestive heart failure or even malignant tachycardia in adults. Herein, we describe the clinical and anatomical findings in four cases with hypoplasia of the right or left ventricular apex, and we discuss the possible mechanisms and differential diagnosis of this malformation. Echocardiography is a rapidly accessible, low cost, noninvasive technique for the detection and evaluation of IVAH.