Thomas Elgeti1, Dietmar E. Kivelitz2,
Dirk Habedank3, Bernd Hamm1, Rainer Rttgen1,
Diane Miriam Renz1
1Department of Radiology,
Charit Universittsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany; 2Albers-Schnberg-Institut
fr Strahlendiagnostik, AK St. Georg, Hamburg, Germany; 3Department
of Cardiology, Charit Universittsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
A comprehensive cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMRI) approach was evaluated retrospectively in 6 patients with peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM). This is a rare, possible life-threatening cardiac disorder, which affects previously healthy women in the last month of pregnancy or within five months after birth. The MR-protocol included SSFP images (functional analysis), T2 weighted images (edema), early (reflecting increased capillary leakage) and late gadolinium enhancement (LGE; irreversible myocardial injury). Using this protocol, myocardial inflammation is detected the acute phase of the disease. In most patients, these changes are transient. If LGE is found, the patients clinical course may not be favourable.