Myocardial T1 & T2 Measurement in Patients with Cardiac Amyloid & Comparison with Normal Controls

James Glockner¹

Myocardial tissue relaxation measurements have been suggested as a potential alternative technique to post-contrast late gadolinium enhancement imaging for identification of patients with cardiac amyloid. This has the advantage of avoiding gadolinium administration in patients who may have reduced renal function. Septal myocardial T1 and T2 measurements were performed in 14 patients with cardiac amyloid diagnosed by positive echocardiography and contrast-enhanced MRI and compared with values measured in a group of normal controls. No significant difference in myocardial relaxation times was identified, suggesting that tissue relaxation measurements alone are unlikely to confidently diagnose cardiac involvement in pateints with systemic amyloidosis.