New Method to Measure Heart Tissue Changes in Cardiac Amyloidosis
Author Information
Author(s): Mongeon Francois-Pierre, Jerosch-Herold Michael, Coelho-Filho Otavio Rizzi, Seabra Luciana F, Watanabe Eri, Blankstein Ron, Kwong Raymond Y
Primary Institution: Brigham and Women's Hospital
Hypothesis
A direct measure of myocardial extracellular volume fraction (MECVF) using T1-weighted imaging can identify cardiac amyloidosis.
Conclusion
The study found that elevated MECVF is associated with higher levels of heart tissue changes and may help in diagnosing cardiac amyloidosis.
Supporting Evidence
- 13 patients were confirmed to have cardiac amyloidosis by biopsy.
- Mean MECVF was higher in patients with cardiac amyloidosis compared to non-infiltrative cardiomyopathy and normal controls.
- MECVF showed a strong correlation with the extent of late gadolinium enhancement.
Takeaway
This study shows a new way to measure changes in heart tissue that can help doctors figure out if someone has a heart problem called cardiac amyloidosis.
Methodology
3T cardiac MRI was performed on 47 subjects, including controls and patients with known or suspected cardiac amyloidosis, using T1-weighted imaging pre- and post-contrast.
Participant Demographics
Mean age of control subjects was 45 years (66.7% female) and mean age of patients was 68 years (23.7% female).
Statistical Information
P-Value
p<0.0001
Statistical Significance
p<0.0001
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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