Left ventricular myocardial performance index in closely-related relatives of patients with dilated cardiomyopathy

In this study, the left ventricular dimensions, systolic function, and left ventricular myocardial performance index in the first-degree relatives of the children with dilated cardiomyopathy (n = 19), 30.0 ± 17.6 years to normal age- and sex-matched controls (n = 25), 27.4 ± 17.7 years. The percentage ratio of the measured left ventricular end-diastolic dimension to the predicted left ventricular end-diastolic dimension (109 ± 9.6 vs 105 ± 11.8), left ventricular shortening fraction (34.5 ± 6.6 vs 37.2 ± 7%), and left ventricular ejection fraction (63.2 ± 9.2 vs 66.5 ± 8.1%) were not significantly different in the first-degree relatives and controls, respectively. However, the left ventricular myocardial performance index was significantly greater in the first-degree relatives than in controls (0.40 ± 0.11 vs 0.31 ± 0.03, p = 0.01). In conclusion, the left ventricular myocardial performance index may be useful in early detect familial dilated cardiomyopathy in asymptomatic first-degree relatives of children with dilated cardiomyopathy.