Knowledge of electrophysiological properties of the heart in pre-excitation syndrome has advanced considerably over the past decade [1]. However, the attempt to correlate abnormal ventricular excitation with specific contraction patterns, i. e. contraction sequences of the left ventricle, has yielded conflicting data and remained, up to now, without conclusive results [2–6].

Left Ventricular Wall Motion During Pre-excitation and Normal Conduction in WPW-Syndrome

By echocardiography it is possible to localize both septal and left ventricular posterior wall motion during the cardiac cycle 1)–3). Timing of contraction of any part of the heart is effected by timing of excitation of that particular area. We studied the timing of contraction and the contraction pattern of both septal and posterior wall in patients with W.P.W. syndrome, to gain information about the timing of excitation.

Jos Roelandt

Papers

Left ventricular wall motion in patients with W.P.W. syndrome studied by echocardiography