Full cardiac cycle coverage T2* mapping detects early myocardial changes in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

Most cases of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) are detected at a stage when the heart has experienced significant damage. The aim of this study is to detect subtle changes in the myocardium before the appearance of overt symptoms of HCM. We show that myocardial T2* mapping can detect early changes throughout the full heart cycle in a HCM mouse model that represents the human genetic heart disease. This could potentially provide a biomarker for early stages of HCM that might be useful for non-invasive diagnoses.