Aim: to assess the relation of focal and diffuse left ventricular (LV) fibrosis to left bundle branch block (LBBB).
Materials And Methods: 60 patients with dilated cardiomyopathy and LBBB (DCM-LBBB), 50 DCM-nonLBBB patients, 15 patients with LBBB and structurally normal heart (idiopathic LBBB) and 10 healthy volunteers (HV) underwent cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) with late gadolinium enhancement (LGE). LGE LV images were post-proceed for core scar (CS) and gray zone (GZ) calculation.
Purpose: Late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies were performed on healthy individuals to establish signal intensity thresholds for reproducible left atrial (LA) patchy LGE detection. Using established criteria, differences in LA patchy LGE between healthy volunteers (HV) and patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) or hypertension were analyzed.
Methods: Fifty-three patents with AF (mean age 56 years, 60% men), 25 patients with hypertension and no history of AF (mean age 54 years, 40% men), and 28 HV (mean age 50 years, 52% men) were enrolled in an observational, non-interventional, case-control prospective study.
Background: In the recent years, there has been an increasing number of publications postulating that data on left atrial (LA) structure obtained by late gadolinium enhancement magnetic resonance imaging (LGE MRI) can improve the management of patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). At the same time, similar data regarding healthy LA myocardium is limited.
Aim: To assess structural and functional properties of LA in healthy volunteers (HV) using cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) (including LGE MRI); to compare these properties in patients with AF and HV.