Usefulness of strain imaging echocardiography in arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy: clinical perspective.

Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) is a rare, but severe disease that predisposes patients to ventricular arrhythmias, heart failure, and increased risk of sudden cardiac death. Because of the broad spectrum of phenotypic expressions, diagnostic assessment is often challenging. Speckle-tracking echocardiography has emerged as an alternative technique enhancing the performance of standard echocardiography in ARVC patients, leading to an early detection of subtle ventricular abnormalities and potentially identifying predictors of adverse clinical outcome.