Description and Clinical Implications of Myocardial Clefts Using Echocardiography

Background Myocardial clefts (MCs) are rare anomalies with debatable clinical significance. Increased use of cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) has led to the appreciation of subtle left ventricular (LV) wall structural defects, and studies showed varying clinical significance, ranging from asymptomatic incidental findings to being considered a novel imaging marker of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Sparse data are available about the utility of two-dimensional echocardiography (2DE) to visualize these anomalies. We describe our institutional experience categorizing MCs using 2DE. Methods The echocardiography database was retrospectively queried for diagnosing MCs using Synapse® Cardiovascular Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) (Fujifilm, Tokyo, Japan). Identified patients were admitted to Detroit Medical Center (DMC) between January 2012 and May 2019. MCs were defined as recesses filled with luminal blood, obliterate during systole, and have U, wedge, and tunnel shapes. Images were interpreted by a cardiologist blinded to the data. Baseline demographics and clinical characteristics were documented. The study was descriptive; no intervention was done. Results Sixteen patients with a mean age of 62.43 were included; 68.75% were women, and 81.25% were African American. The prevalence of cardiac comorbidities was primary hypertension 12 (75%), coronary artery disease 5 (31.25%), heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) 4 (25.0%), valvular heart disease 4 (25.0%), arrhythmia/heart block 4 (25.0%), and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) 2 (12.5%). The indications for 2DE evaluation were heart failure/cardiogenic shock 2 (12.5%), acute coronary syndrome 2 (12.5%), syncope/presyncope 2 (12.5%), atypical chest pain 2 (12.5%), and others 8 (50.0%). Twenty-one MCs were visualized in eight segments of LV walls and septum as follows: basal inferior 7, mid inferoseptal 6, mid inferior 3, mid anteroseptal 2, mid inferolateral 1, mid anterolateral 1, basal inferoseptal 1, apical inferoseptal 1, and apical septal 1. Morphology was classified as tunnel in 66.66%, wedge in 23.8%, and U in 9.5%. Conclusion In various LV and septal walls, MCs detected on 2DE were benign and incidental findings without significant implications for preclinical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM).