Secondary cardiomyopathy in patients with Beta-thalassemia major: a model of reverse cardiomyopathy

Abstract

Poster Display I. Cardiomyopathy 39 patients (58%), which presented normal coronary arteries at angiography. RvD involved 51 out of 646 segments (7.9%) with a mean defect area of 9.5±10% of the LV surface. Among the 51 segments with RvD in the previous study, 35 (68%) evolved to present ReD in the current study, while only 8.6% o the segments without RvD exhibited the same evolution, p<0.0001, Fisher Exact test. Conclusions: In CC patients the progression of global and segmental LV systolic dysfunction was associated to both the increase in perfusion defects at rest and to the presence of reversible perfusion defects. These results support the notion that myocardial perfusion disturbances participate in the pathogenesis of myocardial injury in CC.