Delayed enhancement cardiovascular magnetic resonance as a novel technique to predict cardiac events in dilated cardiomyopathy patients.
OBJECTIVE
Delayed enhancement cardiovascular magnetic resonance (DE-CMR) can detect cardiac scarring and has the potential to visualize the progression of myocardial remodeling. We determined whether DE-CMR can predict cardiac events in dilated cardiomyopathy patients.


METHODS
Transthoracic echocardiography, coronary arteriography, and DE-CMR studies were performed in 60 consecutive dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) patients. Percent delayed enhancement (%DE) was determined as the ratio of the area showing delayed enhancement to the total myocardial area in three short-axis views. Patients were classified as advanced group (Group A) when %DE was 10% or higher, and as non-advanced group (Group NA) when %DE was less than 10%. The incidence of cardiac events and the clinical history were compared between Group A and Group NA.


RESULTS
There were 11 patients in Group A and 49 patients in Group NA. The incidence of cardiac events was significantly higher in Group A (36%; 4/11 patients) than in Group NA (2.0%; 1/49 patients) (log rank, p=0.0001).


CONCLUSIONS
DE-CMR is a useful tool to predict cardiac events in DCM patients.
Shimizu
Ippei
I
Sakakibara Heart Institute, Tokyo, Japan.
Iguchi
Nobuo
N
Watanabe
Hiroyuki
H
Umemura
Jun
J
Tobaru
Tetsuya
T
Asano
Ryuta
R
Misu
Kazuhiko
K
Nagayama
Masatoshi
M
Aikawa
Masaru
M
Funabashi
Nobusada
N
Komuro
Issei
I
Sumiyoshi
Tetsuya
T
D000208:Acute Disease; D000368:Aged; D002311:Cardiomyopathy, Dilated / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D004452:Echocardiography; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D020257:Ventricular Remodeling