Improved evaluation of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy by biventriculography with axial projection.

To delineate the precise anatomic abnormalities of the interventricular septum (IVS), mitral valve (MV), and left ventricular posterior wall (LVPW) in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), we used axial biventriculography (BVG) (hepato-clavicular projection: angled BVG) to examine 17 patients with HCM and four with concentric hypertrophy due to systemic hypertension. We also examined 9 of these 21 patients with conventional left anterior oblique (LAO) BVG (non-angled BVG). The IVS and along axis of the LV cavity when measured by angled BVG were significantly longer than when measured by non-angled BVG. The IVS, MV, and LVPW were better seen in profile in angled than in non-angled BVG. In two patients with HCM with obstruction (HOCM), systolic anterior motion of the anterior leaflet of the MV was readily identifiable with angled BVG, which is usually not the case with non-angled BVG. Thus, angled BVG is superior to conventional LAO BVG in the angiographic assessment of patients with HCM.