title: [Diagnosis of cardiac amyloidosis using magnetic resonance imaging: a new reliable, non-invasive technique to be validated].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Amyloidosis is characterised by extracellular tissue deposition of insoluble fibrillar protein in various organs. Cardiac involvement is associated with the worse prognosis and the main cause of death. It needs a prompt diagnosis, which could be sometimes difficult to obtain. Endomyocardial biopsy remains the gold standard diagnostic technique, but recent studies on cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) indicate that this imaging procedure may be useful to the diagnosis of amyloidosis.
  
  
  METHODS
  We report three patients with systemic amyloidosis who underwent cardiac MRI for the diagnosis or the follow-up of their disease. In addition to poorly specific signs of restrictive cardiomyopathy, cardiac MRI showed, after gadolinium enhancement that was considered characteristic of amyloidosis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Cardiac MRI is a useful diagnostic tool in cardiac amyloidosis, as it was shown in recent studies. Compared to endomyocardial biopsy it is a non-invasive technique that is now more readily accessible and that seems to have an acceptable specificity.
authors.affiliation: Service de radiologie, hôpital de La-Croix-Rousse, CHU de Lyon, 103, grande rue de La-Croix-Rousse, 69317 Lyon cedex 4, France. sanzalonethomas@free.fr
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sanzalone
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Thomson
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dauphin
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Journe
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Berthezene
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000686:Amyloidosis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D019028:Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Cine; D008297:Male