Quantification of Myocardial Extracellular Volume Fraction with Cardiac MR Imaging for Early Detection of Left Ventricle Involvement in Systemic Sclerosis

Authors:
Publisher website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Extracellular volume fraction (ECV) imaging by using cardiac MR imaging can identify ECV changes presumably because of diffuse myocardial fibrosis in systemic sclerosis patients without clinical signs and symptoms of heart disease. PurposeTo determine whether extracellular volume fraction (ECV) quantification at cardiac magnetic resonance (MR) imaging can demonstrate subclinical left ventricle (LV) abnormalities in a cohort of consecutive systemic sclerosis (SS) patients, and to investigate the relationship between ECV and diastolic and systolic LV function.Materials and MethodsAll subjects gave their written informed consent. The protocol was approved by the ethics committee. ECV quantification with cardiac MR imaging was prospectively performed in 33 consecutive SS patients with normal echocardiography results and no late gadolinium chelate enhancement at MR imaging. Left ventricular and atrial volumes and peak circumferential strain were measured at cardiac MR imaging. Diastolic function was assessed at echocardiography. The results were compared with those of 16 age-matched healthy control subjects by using Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests.ResultsSS patients had significantly higher global ECV (P < .001) and higher local EC...

This publication has 31 references indexed in Scilit: