Objective: To discuss the echocardiographic manifestations and classification of congenital ventricular diverticula.
Methods: Seven cases of congenital diverticula were retrospectively summarized in our database from 2000 to 2008. The morphological characteristics and other cardiac abnormalities were analyzed. Also clinical history, other accessory examinations and surgical findings were reviewed.
Results: 8 diverticula of all 7 cases were found by echocardiography. 6 of 8 diverticula were fibrous types with thin wall, high echo intensity, akinesis and narrow apical connections to the ventricles, or wide connections to the ventricles but near the atrioventricular rings. 2 of all the 8 diverticula were accompanied with other cardiac abnormalities. All the 6 fibrous diverticula were complicated by ventricular arrhythmia. And among them, one apical diverticula was complicated by left ventricular insufficiency. Finally 5 cases underwent surgeries and surgical findings confirmed echocardiographic results.
Conclusion: Congenital ventricular diverticula are rare. They can be classified into different types such as apical or nonapical, and fibrous or muscular. Maybe, the fibrous and muscular diverticula are just the different stages of a diverticulum. Moreover, because of their complications including heart failure, ventricular rupture, ventricular arrhythmia and sudden death, the treatments to diverticula are relatively active. Echocardiography may find out the characteristics of different ventricular diverticula, their complications, other cardiac or extracardiac abnormalities and distinguish them from ventricular true or pseudo-aneurysms, hernias, and pericardiac cysts or diverticula. In view of these, echocardiography can help the clinicians make decision.