Prevalence and prognostic impact of left ventricular non-compaction in patients with thalassemia.

A high incidence of isolated left ventricular non-compaction (LVNC) has been reported in previous studies on smaller cohorts of patients with thalassemia by cardiac MRI but the clinical impact of the finding is unknown. This prospective cohort study evaluates the prevalence and clinical implication of the finding. Prospective cohort study with enrollment of all consecutive cases with thalassemia referred for cardiac MRI from September 2007 to November 2014.

Clinical and magnetic resonance evolution of "infarct-like" myocarditis.

Aims: To analyse the clinical and magnetic resonance evolution of myocarditis in patients with an "infarct-like" presentation pattern.

Methods: The study is a retrospective analysis of 52 patients with clinical diagnosis of "infarct-like" myocarditis confirmed by CMR as acute myocarditis according to Lake Louise criteria and 6 months follow-up. The CMR protocol included T2-weighted (oedema), early (hyperaemia) and late (fibrosis/necrosis) gadolinium enhancement sequences, according to Lake Louise criteria.

Coronary artery anomalies overview: The normal and the abnormal.

The aim of this review is to give a comprehensive and concise overview of coronary embryology and normal coronary anatomy, describe common variants of normal and summarize typical patterns of anomalous coronary artery anatomy. Extensive iconography supports the text, with particular attention to images obtained in vivo using non-invasive imaging. We have divided this article into three groups, according to their frequency in the general population: Normal, normal variant and anomaly.

Cardiovascular magnetic resonance as a reliable alternative to cardiovascular computed tomography and transesophageal echocardiography for aortic annulus valve sizing.

To assess the accuracy and reproducibly of cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) in the measurement of the aortic annulus and in process of valve sizing as compared to intra-operative sizing, cardiovascular computed tomography (CCT) and transesophageal echocardiography (TEE). Retrospective study on 42 patients who underwent aortic valve replacement from September 2010 to September 2015, with available records of pre surgery annulus assessment by CMR, CCT and TEE and of peri-operative assessment. In CCT and CMR, the annular plane was considered a virtual ring formed by the lowest hinge points of the valvular attachments to the aorta.

Good prognosis for pericarditis with and without myocardial involvement: results from a multicenter, prospective cohort study.

Background: The natural history of myopericarditis/perimyocarditis is poorly known, and recently published studies have presented contrasting data on their outcomes. The aim of the present article is to assess the prognosis of myopericarditis/perimyocarditis in a multicenter, prospective cohort study.

Methods And Results: A total of 486 patients (median age, 39 years; range, 18-83 years; 300 men) with acute pericarditis or a myopericardial inflammatory syndrome (myopericarditis/perimyocarditis; 85% idiopathic, 11% connective tissue disease or inflammatory bowel disease, 5% infective) were prospectively evaluated from January 2007 to December 2011.

Left ventricular noncompaction in patients with β-thalassemia: uncovering a previously unrecognized abnormality.

Left ventricular noncompaction (LVNC) is a rare cardiomyopathy with potentially serious outcomes. It results in multiple and excessive trabeculations, deep intertrabecular recesses, and a thickened ventricular myocardium with two distinct layers, compacted and noncompacted. The condition is most commonly congenital; however, acquired forms have also been described.

Late gadolinium enhancement on cardiac magnetic resonance and phenotypic expression in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Background: Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging with late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) can identify areas of myocardial fibrosis in vivo in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). The aim of this study was to examine the association between clinical-morphological variables, risk factor for sudden death, and LGE findings in a consecutive, unselected population of HCM patients.

Methods: From January 2005 to August 2009, 124 HCM patients (53 ± 17 years, 86 men) were prospectively evaluated with CMR examination, assessing left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy, function, and LGE.

Magnetic resonance cardiac vein imaging: relation to mitral valve annulus and left circumflex coronary artery.

Objectives: To evaluate in vivo anatomical relationships between the coronary sinus-great cardiac vein (CS-GCV), the mitral valve annulus (MVA), and left circumflex coronary artery (LCX) with cardiovascular magnetic resonance.

Background: The CS-GCV has become an anatomical structure of interest because it provides a way of access to the heart for a number of interventional procedures. Previous reports demonstrate that the postulated close anatomical proximity of the CS-GCV to the MVA does not always hold true in patients, both in autopsy specimens and in vivo by computed tomography.