Quantitative analysis of left ventricle myocardial fibrosis in patients with atrial fibrillation by cardiac MRI / 中国医学影像技术

ABSTRACT

Objective To evaluate the diffuse myocardial fibrosis of the left ventricle (LV) in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) by cardiac MR (CMR) T1 mapping methods.Methods Totally 60 subjects (30 paroxysmal AF patients and 30 persistent AF patients) and 59 normal control underwent MR cardiac cine,late gadolinium enhancement,and LV T1 mapping.For T1 mapping,modified Look-Locker inversion recovery sequence was used.Compared with control,pre-contrast ventricular T1 times were quantified and extracellular volume (ECV) was calculated.Results All subjects completed the CMR exam,no myocardial delay enhanced lesion was found.Pre-contrast ventricular T1 time in healthy controls was lower than that in patients with persistent and paroxysmal AF,and the pre-comrast ventricular T1 time in persistent AF patients was higher than that of paroxysmal AF patients (all P＜0.05).The mean LV myocardial ECV had no statistical difference between healthy controls and paroxysmal AF patients (P＞ 0.05),while lower than persistent AF patients (P ＜ 0.05).The mean LV myocardial ECV in patients with persistent AF was larger than that in patients with paroxysmal AF (P＜0.05).LV functional indexes were positive correlated with pre-contrast ventricular T1 time and ECV in patients with AF (all P＜0.05).Conclusion There is LV myocardial fibrosis in patients with AF,and the degree in patients with persistent AF is more severe than that in patients with paroxysmal AF.