Assessment of the presence of occult myocardial infarction in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease using contrast-enhanced cardiac magnetic resonance imaging.

BACKGROUND: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has been identified as a risk factor for ischaemic heart disease, independent of smoking history, and inflammation is thought to play a role.
OBJECTIVES: We sought to ascertain whether occult myocardial infarction (MI) was present in the COPD population, and to assess its relationship with inflammation and natriuretic peptides.
METHOD: We recruited 25 patients with moderate/severe COPD and 17 control smokers without lung disease. All participants had no known cardiac disease. Contrast-enhanced cardiac magnetic resonance imaging was performed and analysed for delayed contrast enhancement (DE), indicative of previous MI. All participants had venous blood samples taken for assessment of NT-proBNP and inflammatory markers.
RESULTS: DE was not found in any participant. Right ventricular ejection fraction was lower in COPD patients. Other cardiac measurements and NT-proBNP levels were similar in the 2 groups. C-reactive protein, IL-8, GM-CSF, IL-1 beta and TNF-alpha were all significantly higher in the COPD group.
CONCLUSION: DE, indicating previous MI, was not found in patients with moderate/severe COPD. Occult MI does not appear to be common in this population, but a larger study would be needed to conclusively test this. (c) 2009 S. Karger AG, Basel.