Comparison of MR T1 and T2 mapping parameters to characterize myocardial and skeletal muscle involvement in systemic idiopathic inflammatory myopathy (IIM).

Objectives: To compare the performance of magnetic resonance (MR) relaxometry parameters to discriminate myocardial and skeletal muscle inflammation in idiopathic inflammatory myopathy (IIM) patients from healthy controls.

Materials And Methods: For this retrospective case-control study, 20 consecutive IIM patients (54 ± 18 years, 11 females) with cardiac involvement (troponin level > 50 ng/l) and 20 healthy controls (47 ± 12 years, 9 females) were included. All patients without cardiac MR imaging < 2 weeks prior to the laboratory testings were excluded.