Heart failure & cardiomyopathiesCohort study
Diagnostic delay in arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy
- Retrospective cohort study
- multicentre
Authors' conclusion
Diagnostic delay is common in patients with ACM, particularly in the presence of LV involvement, and is associated with greater mortality at follow-up.
Study context
- Population
- Patients with arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM) at three Italian cardiomyopathy referral centres
- Participants
- 174 patients · 3 centres
- Exposure
- Diagnostic delay vs no diagnostic delay
- Outcome
- Diagnostic delay (time from first medical contact to definitive ACM diagnosis ≥2 years)
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Diagnostic delay
- Diagnostic delay
- 31%
- Median time to diagnosis (with delay)
- 8 years
- Delay in right-dominant ACM
- 20%
- Delay in left-dominant ACM
- 33%
- Delay in biventricular ACM
- 39%
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
ACM phenotype with LV involvement
P = 0.04
| Outcome | P value |
|---|---|
| All-cause mortality · follow-up · greater with diagnostic delay | P = 0.03 |
Plakophilin-2 variants
- None with diagnostic delay had plakophilin-2 variants
- 0
Initial (mis)diagnoses
- Dilated cardiomyopathy
- 51%
- Myocarditis
- 21%
- Idiopathic ventricular arrhythmia
- 9%
Original publication
Diagnostic delay in arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy. Eur J Prev Cardiol. Published 27 February 2023. doi:10.1093/eurjpc/zwad058
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it