Journal of cardiovascular magnetic resonance : official journal of the Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance
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J Cardiovasc Magn Reson · Jan 2012
ReviewClinical utility of cardiovascular magnetic resonance in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is characterized by substantial genetic and phenotypic heterogeneity, leading to considerable diversity in clinical course including the most common cause of sudden death in young people and a determinant of heart failure symptoms in patients of any age. Traditionally, two-dimensional echocardiography has been the most reliable method for establishing a clinical diagnosis of HCM. However, cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR), with its high spatial resolution and tomographic imaging capability, has emerged as a technique particularly well suited to characterize the diverse phenotypic expression of this complex disease. ⋯ At this time, late gadolinium enhancement appears to be an important determinant of adverse LV remodeling associated with systolic dysfunction. However, the predictive significance of LGE for sudden death is incompletely resolved and ultimately future large prospective studies may provide greater insights into this issue. These observations underscore an important role for CMR in the contemporary assessment of patients with HCM, providing important information impacting diagnosis and clinical management strategies.