title: Superiority of the extracellular volume fraction over the myocardial T1 value for the assessment of myocardial fibrosis in patients with non-ischemic cardiomyopathy.
abstract: This study aimed to assess the efficacies of the myocardial T1 value and the extracellular volume fraction (ECV) for determining the severity of myocardial fibrosis in patients with non-ischemic cardiomyopathy.
  
  
  
  Myocardial fibrosis is considered the most important indicator of cardiac damage associated with non-ischemic cardiomyopathy. Recently, modified Look-Locker inversion recovery imaging (MOLLI) has been used for T1 mapping and measurement of the ECV for the assessment of myocardial fibrosis. The present study included 22 patients (mean age, 61.5±12.7; 21 male) with non-ischemic heart failure. Motion corrected myocardial T1 mapping was automatically performed using a MOLLI sequence, and the ECV was estimated from the pre- and post-contrast blood and myocardial T1 values corrected for the hematocrit level. All endomyocardial biopsy specimens were obtained from the inferoposterior left ventricular wall. The percentage of myocardial fibrosis (%F) was determined after Elastica Masson-Goldner staining as follows: (fibrosis area/[fibrosis area+myocardial area])×100.
  
  
  
  No correlation was noted between the %F and the pre- (r=0.290, p=0.191) or post-contrast T1 values (r=-0.190, p=0.398); however, a significant correlation was noted between the %F and ECV (r=0.750, p<0.001).
  
  
  
  In this study, the ECV reflected the extent of myocardial fibrosis, but the pre- and post-contrast T1 values did not. The ECV may be used to estimate the severity of myocardial fibrosis in patients with non-ischemic cardiomyopathy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Nippon Medical School, Japan.
authors.forename: Keisuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Inui
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Nippon Medical School, Japan.
authors.forename: Masaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tachi
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Nippon Medical School, Japan.
authors.forename: Tsunenori
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Nippon Medical School, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshiaki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kubota
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Nippon Medical School, Japan.
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Murai
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Nippon Medical School, Japan.
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Nippon Medical School, Japan.
authors.forename: Hitoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takano
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Nippon Medical School, Japan.
authors.forename: Yasuo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Amano
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Nippon Medical School, Japan. Electronic address: kasai@nms.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Kuniya
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Asai
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Nippon Medical School, Japan.
authors.forename: Wataru
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Shimizu
mesh_terms: D001706:Biopsy; D009202:Cardiomyopathies / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D003287:Contrast Media; D005260:Female; D005355:Fibrosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D006321:Heart / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009206:Myocardium / Q000473:pathology*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media
keywords: Extracellular volume fraction; Modified Look-Locker inversion recovery; Non-ischemic cardiomyopathy; T1 mapping