Late gadolinium enhancement on cardiac magnetic resonance imaging is associated with coronary endothelial dysfunction in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy.

Myocardial fibrosis and coronary endothelial dysfunction are important determinants of outcome in patients with heart failure. However, the relationship of these factors in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is not fully understood. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between endothelium-dependent coronary vasomotor abnormality and late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) on cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) in patients with DCM.

Correlation between microvascular dysfunction and B-type natriuretic peptide levels in non-ischemic heart failure patients with cardiac fibrosis.

Backgrounds: The relationship between microvascular dysfunction and plasma B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels remains unclear in heart failure (HF) patients with cardiac fibrosis.

Methods: This study evaluated 55 consecutive non-ischemic HF patients in an effort to determine the relationship between endothelial independent coronary microvascular dysfunction and plasma BNP levels, as well as whether each measure is correlated with myocardial fibrosis. We evaluated plasma BNP levels in patients with stable HF.

Late gadolinium enhancement on cardiac magnetic resonance predicts coronary vasomotor abnormality and myocardial lactate production in patients with chronic heart failure.

Myocardial fibrosis and microvascular dysfunction are key determinants of outcome in heart failure (HF); we examined their relationship in patients with HF. Our study included 61 consecutive patients with HF but without coronary stenosis. All underwent gadolinium-enhanced cardiac magnetic resonance to evaluate late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) and an acetylcholine (ACh) provocation test to evaluate microvascular dysfunction.

Correlation between extent of myocardial fibrosis assessed by cardiac magnetic resonance and cardiac troponin T release in patients with nonischemic heart failure.

Persistently high cardiac troponin T (cTnT) levels reflect myocardial damage in heart failure (HF). The presence and extent of myocardial fibrosis assessed by cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) and high levels of cTnT predict poor prognosis in various cardiomyopathies. However, the association between myocardial fibrosis and transcardiac cTnT release has not been evaluated.