Study Status: Completed
Recruit Status: Completed
Study Type: Observational
Official Title: Utility of Isoproterenol Challenge Test to Detect Disease in Patients With Incomplete Diagnostic Criteria for Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy
Brief Summary:
This study will examine the usefulness of a new test called an isoproterenol challenge in patients with arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) and family members who may have the disease but do not have clear-cut evidence of it. ARVC is a rare condition that runs in families. Heart muscle is replaced with fatty, scar-like tissue, especially in the right ventricle (lower pumping chamber of the heart), and can sometimes extend to the left ventricle (the main pumping chamber). The fat can interfere with the heartbeat, producing abnormal heart rhythms, such as ventricular tachycardia (VT) - a very fast heartbeat that can cause sudden death, especially in young people. Isoproterenol is a drug that increases heart rate and heart muscle contractions. In isoproterenol challenge, subjects are given increasing doses of the drug through a catheter (see details below) to try to produce an abnormal heart rhythm.
ARVC is hard to diagnose with current tests. This study will see if isoproterenol challenge provokes VT in patients with the disease and can confirm the diagnosis; if it can detect the disease in family members better than currently available tests; and if it provokes abnormal rhythms in healthy control subjects. In addition, the study will explore the genetics of ARVC and determine whether infection could contribute to its development.
Patients with ARVC, their family members, and normal volunteers 18 years of age and older may be eligible for this study. Candidates are screened with a medical history and physical examination, electrocardiogram (EKG), treadmill and bicycle exercise testing, and an echocardiogram (ultrasound test of the heart).
Participants undergo the following tests and procedures: