Left ventricular structure and function by echocardiography in congenital muscular dystrophy.

Cardiac involvement in congenital muscular dystrophy (CMD) has not previously been reported in the literature excepting Japanese ones. The purpose of this study was to investigate the probability of cardiac muscle involvement in 25 patients with CMD. Left ventricular dimensions, wall thicknesses and function were investigated by M-mode and Doppler echocardiography in patients and healthy control subjects. The M-mode echocardiographic data were similar in the two groups. However, the left ventricular mass index in the study group was significantly lower than that of the control group. Left ventricular diastolic function also differed significantly when compared with that of the control group. Mild diastolic dysfunction of the left ventricle might precede manifestations of probable cardiac muscle involvement or subclinical cardiac involvement.