The international journal of cardiovascular imaging
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Int J Cardiovasc Imaging · Jan 2018
Correlation between right ventricular T1 mapping and right ventricular dysfunction in non-ischemic cardiomyopathy.
Right ventricular (RV) fibrosis is increasingly recognized as the underlying pathological substrate in a variety of clinical conditions. We sought to employ cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) techniques of strain imaging and longitudinal relaxation time (T1) mapping to better examine the relationship between RV function and structure. Our aim was to initially evaluate the feasibility of these techniques to evaluate the right ventricle. ⋯ Post-contrast T1 mapping and CMR strain imaging are technically feasible and provide incremental information regarding global RV function and structure. The proportional relationship between RV function and post-contrast T1 values supports that myocardial fibrosis is a causative factor of RV dysfunction in NICM, irrespective of RV afterload. This same structural milieu also appears integral to the propensity for both positive and negative RV remodeling long-term, suggestive that this is also determined by the degree of underlying RV fibrosis.