title: Assessment of coronary microvascular dysfunction in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: first-pass myocardial perfusion cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging at 1.5 T.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the integrity of the coronary microvasculature in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) using first-pass magnetic resonance perfusion imaging.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-two patients with HCM and 13 healthy volunteers underwent cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) at rest. Imaging protocols included short axis cine, first-pass myocardial perfusion, and late-phase contrast-enhanced imaging. Left ventricular end-diastolic wall thickness (EDTH), myocardial thickening, maximal upslope of time-intensity curve (slopemax), and late myocardial gadolinium enhancement (LGE) were assessed for each myocardial segment. The differences in slopemax, myocardial thickening, and EDTH between healthy volunteers and HCM patients were evaluated as were differences among hypertrophic segments of different severities (mild, moderate, and severe hypertrophy) in a one-way analysis of variance analysis. The differences in slopemax, myocardial thickening, and EDTH between the segments with and without LGE were compared by independent-sample t-test. A Pearson correlation test was used to determine the relationships between slopemax, EDTH, and myocardial thickening.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Slopemax was statistically significantly less in HCM patients; the degree of myocardial thickening was also significantly reduced (p < 0.001). Slopemax and the degree of thickening statistically significantly decreased with increasing degrees of myocardial hypertrophy (p < 0.05). Differences in slopemax, myocardial thickening, and EDTH were observed between segments with and without LGE (p < 0.05). Slopemax and myocardial thickening were negatively correlated with EDTH.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  First-pass myocardial perfusion CMR with slopemax measurements demonstrates microvascular coronary dysfunction in patients with HCM, a determination that may aid in risk stratification, therapeutic planning, and determination of prognosis for HCM.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science & Technology, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ai
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: J N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Morelli
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xia
mesh_terms: D002312:Cardiomyopathy, Hypertrophic / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008833:Microcirculation / Q000502:physiology*; D055806:Microvessels / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D013318:Stroke Volume; D018487:Ventricular Dysfunction, Left / Q000503:physiopathology