Evidence of Myocardial Edema in Patients With Nonischemic Dilated Cardiomyopathy

BACKGROUND: Nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is associated with high mortality and morbidity. Cardiovascular magnetic resonance allows for the noninvasive assessment of function, morphology, and myocardial edema. Activation of inflammatory pathways may play an important role in the etiology of chronic DCM and may also be involved in the disease progression. HYPOTHESIS: The purpose of our study was to assess the incidence of myocardial edema as a marker for myocardial inflammation in patients with nonischemic DCM. METHODS: We examined 31 consecutive patients ( mean age, 57 ± 12 years) with idiopathic DCM. Results were compared with 39 controls matched for gender and age (mean age, 53 ± 13 years). Parameters of left ventricular function and volumes, and electrocardiogram-triggered, T2-weighted, fast spin echo triple inversion recovery sequences were applied in all patients and controls. Variables between patients and controls were compared using t tests for quantitative and χ2 tests for categorical variables. RESULTS: Ejection fraction (EF) was 40.3 ± 7.8% in patients and 62.6 ± 5.0% in controls (P < 0.0001). In T2-weighted images, patients with DCM had a significantly higher normalized global signal intensity ratio compared to controls (2.2 ± 0.6 and 1.8 ± 0.3, respectively, P = 0.0006), consistent with global myocardial edema. There was a significant but moderate negative correlation between signal intensity ratio in T2-weighted images and EF (-0.39, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Evidence shows that myocardial edema is associated with idiopathic nonischemic DCM. Further studies are needed to assess the clinical and prognostic impact of these findings.