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1001 Greater degree of left ventricular scar is associated with increased mortality in patients with severe ischemic cardiomyopathy
Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance volume 10, Article number: A126 (2008)
Background
Patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM) have reduced survival. Delayed hyperenhancement magnetic resonance imaging (DHE-MRI) accurately measures myocardial scar. We sought to determine if extent of left ventricular (LV) scar is associated with survival in severe ICM patients.
Methods
349 patients with severe ICM >/= 70% coronary artery disease in >/= 1 epicardial vessel on angiography, mean LV ejection fraction (EF) of 24%] that underwent DHE-MRI (Siemens 1.5 T scanner, Erlangen, Germany) from 2003–6 were studied. (Siemens, Erlangen, Germany) from 2005–6. DHE-MR images were obtained in standard long and short axis orientations (covering the entire LV), after injection of Gadolinium dimenglumine using an inversion recovery spoiled gradient echo sequence: TE 4 msec, TR 8 msec, flip angle 300, bandwidth 140 Hz/pixel, 23 k-space lines acquired every other RR-interval, field of view (varied from 228–330 in the x-direction and 260–330 in the y-direction) and matrix size (varied from 140–180 in the x-direction and 256 in the y-direction). For DHE-MRI analysis, a custom analysis package (VPT software, Siemens, Erlangen, Germany) was used to manually delineate endocardial and epicardial myocardial edges. Scar was defined (as % of myocardium in a 17-segment model on custom software, Siemens Research) on DHE-MR images, as intensity > 2 standard deviation above viable myocardium. Transmurality score was recorded in all segments as follows: 0 = no scar, 1 = 1–25% scar, 2 = 26–50%, 3 = 51–75% and 4 = > 75%. Total scar score was calculated as transmurality score for all segments/17. LV volumes, EF, demographics, risk factors, need for cardiac transplantation (CTx) and all-cause mortality were recorded. Figure 1.

Figure 1
Results
There were 56 combined events (51 deaths and 5 CTx) over a follow up of 2.6 ± 1.2 years. Characteristics of patients with and without events is shown in the table in Figure 2. On receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, mean scar % predicted events (area under curve 0.62, p median of 2.3 (RR 1.96 [1.13–3.41]) and female gender (RR 1.83 [1.06–3.16]) predicted events (both p < 0.05).
Conclusion
In ICM patients with severely reduced LVEF, greater extent of myocardial scar on DHE-MRI is associated with worse outcomes, including mortality or need for cardiac transplantation.
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Kwonf, D.H., Halley, C.H., Carrigan, T.P. et al. 1001 Greater degree of left ventricular scar is associated with increased mortality in patients with severe ischemic cardiomyopathy. J Cardiovasc Magn Reson 10 (Suppl 1), A126 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1186/1532-429X-10-S1-A126
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1532-429X-10-S1-A126
Keywords
- Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction
- Cardiac Transplantation
- Left Ventricular Volume
- Ischemic Cardiomyopathy
- Myocardial Scar