Wessel P. Brouwer1, Emma Baars1, Tjeerd Germans1, Karin de Boer1, Aernout M. Beek1, Jolanda van der Velden2, Arthur AM Wilde3, Albert C. van Rossum1, Mark BM Hofman4
1Cardiology, ICaR-VU, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, Netherlands; 2Physiology, ICaR-VU, VU University Medical Center; 3Cardiology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, Netherlands; 4Physics and Medical Technology, ICaR-VU, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Autopsy studies revealed areas of interstitial fibrosis in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), but current late gadolinium enhancement imaging (LGE) is unable to depict diffuse deposition of collagen fibers. Therefore, we used T1 mapping with a Modified Look-Locker Inversion Recovery (MOLLI) pulse sequence to determine the distribution volume (Vdm) for extracellular Gd-DTPA in non enhanced myocardium, which is a measure of interstitial fibrosis. Results showed that LGE positive HCM patients have significantly higher (Vdm) values then LGE negative HCM patients and controls. Besides, pre-hypertrophic HCM mutation carriers had higher (Vdm) then controls, suggesting that interstitial fibrosis occurs early in the disease process.
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