Hypokinesia of the Heart

Hypokinesia of the Heart

Hypokinesia means decreased motion or contraction of a segment of heart muscle. The term is applied to the movement of regions of the heart. If there is decreased contraction of a region of the heart it is known as regional wall motion abnormality. If the whole of the left ventricle shows decreased contractions, it is called global hypokinesia and it can be a manifestation of a type of heart muscle disease known as dilated cardiomyopathy. Regional hypokinesia of the heart occurs after a heart attack. The region supplied by the blocked artery shows sluggish contraction. It can be detected by various forms of imaging like echocardiography, MRI and nuclear imaging.