Does Cardiac Magnetic Resonance (CMR) improve diagnosis and risk stratification in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy?
CMR serves as a crucial imaging modality for the differential diagnosis and prognostic stratification of patients with dilated cardiomyopathy.
Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) represents the final common morphofunctional pathway of various pathological conditions in which a combination of myocyte injury and necrosis associated with tissue fibrosis results in impaired mechanical function. Recognition of the underlying aetiology of disease and accurate disease monitoring may be crucial to individually optimize therapeutic strategies and stratify patient's prognosis. In this regard, CMR has emerged as a new reference gold standard providing important information for differential diagnosis and new insight about individual risk stratification. The present review article will focus on the role of CMR in the evaluation of present condition, analysing respective strengths and limitations in the light of current literature and technological developments.
Marco Francone (Tue,) studied this question.