State-of-the-Art Paper
Assessment of Myocardial Fibrosis With Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance

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Diffuse interstitial or replacement myocardial fibrosis is a common feature of a broad variety of cardiomyopathies. Myocardial fibrosis leads to impaired cardiac diastolic and systolic function and is related to adverse cardiovascular events. Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) may uniquely characterize the extent of replacement fibrosis and may have prognostic value in various cardiomyopathies. Myocardial longitudinal relaxation time mapping is an emerging technique that could improve CMR's diagnostic accuracy, especially for interstitial diffuse myocardial fibrosis. As such, CMR could be integrated in the monitoring and therapeutic management of a large number of patients. This review summarizes the advantages and limitations of CMR for the assessment of myocardial fibrosis.

Key Words

cardiac magnetic resonance
late gadolinium enhancement
myocardial fibrosis
T1 mapping

Abbreviations and Acronyms

CMR
cardiovascular magnetic resonance
LGE
late gadolinium enhancement
LV
left ventricle
MOLLI
Modified Look-Locker Inversion Recovery

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Dr. Mewton was supported by a post-doctoral research grant from the French Federation of Cardiology. This project was also part of a research effort funded by a National Institutes of Health grant no. P20HL101397 to Dr. Lima. All other authors have reported that they have no relationships to disclose. Deborah Kwan, MD, served as Guest Editor for this paper.