OBJECTIVE: Accurate diagnosis of cardiovascular involvement in connective tissue diseases (CTDs) remains challenging. We hypothesized that cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) demonstrates cardiac lesions in symptomatic CTD patients with normal echocardiography. METHODS: CMR from 246 CTD patients with typical cardiac symptoms (TCS; n = 146, group A) or atypical cardiac symptoms (ATCS; n = 100, group B) was retrospectively evaluated. Group A included 9 patients with inflammatory myopathy (IM), 35 with sarcoidosis, 30 with systemic sclerosis (SSc), 14 with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), 10 with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and 48 with small vessel vasculitis. Group B included 25 patients with RA, 20 with SLE, 20 with sarcoidosis, 15 with SSc, 10 with IM, and 10 with small vessel vasculitis. CMR was performed by 1.5T; left ventricular ejection fraction, T2 ratio (edema imaging), and late gadolinium enhancement (LGE; fibrosis imaging) were evaluated. Acute and chronic lesions were characterized as LGE positive plus T2 ratio >2 and T2 ratio ≤2, respectively. According to LGE, lesions were characterized as diffuse subendocardial, subepicardial, and subendocardial/transmural due to vasculitis, myocarditis, and myocardial infarction, respectively. A stress study by dobutamine echocardiography or stress, nuclear, or adenosine CMR was performed in CTD patients with negative rest CMR. RESULTS: Abnormal CMR was identified in 32% (27% chronic) and 15% (12% chronic) of patients with TCS and ATCS, respectively. Lesions due to vasculitis, myocarditis, and myocardial infarction were evident in 27.4%, 62.6%, and 9.6% of CTD patients, respectively. Stress studies in CTD patients with negative CMR revealed coronary artery disease in 20%. CONCLUSION: CMR in symptomatic CTD patients with normal echocardiography can assess disease acuity and identify vasculitis, myocarditis, and myocardial infarction.
OBJECTIVE: Accurate diagnosis of cardiovascular involvement in connective tissue diseases (CTDs) remains challenging. We hypothesized that cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) demonstrates cardiac lesions in symptomatic CTD patients with normal echocardiography. METHODS: CMR from 246 CTD patients with typical cardiac symptoms (TCS; n = 146, group A) or atypical cardiac symptoms (ATCS; n = 100, group B) was retrospectively evaluated. Group A included 9 patients with inflammatory myopathy (IM), 35 with sarcoidosis, 30 with systemic sclerosis (SSc), 14 with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), 10 with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and 48 with small vessel vasculitis. Group B included 25 patients with RA, 20 with SLE, 20 with sarcoidosis, 15 with SSc, 10 with IM, and 10 with small vessel vasculitis. CMR was performed by 1.5T; left ventricular ejection fraction, T2 ratio (edema imaging), and late gadolinium enhancement (LGE; fibrosis imaging) were evaluated. Acute and chronic lesions were characterized as LGE positive plus T2 ratio >2 and T2 ratio ≤2, respectively. According to LGE, lesions were characterized as diffuse subendocardial, subepicardial, and subendocardial/transmural due to vasculitis, myocarditis, and myocardial infarction, respectively. A stress study by dobutamine echocardiography or stress, nuclear, or adenosine CMR was performed in CTD patients with negative rest CMR. RESULTS: Abnormal CMR was identified in 32% (27% chronic) and 15% (12% chronic) of patients with TCS and ATCS, respectively. Lesions due to vasculitis, myocarditis, and myocardial infarction were evident in 27.4%, 62.6%, and 9.6% of CTD patients, respectively. Stress studies in CTD patients with negative CMR revealed coronary artery disease in 20%. CONCLUSION: CMR in symptomatic CTD patients with normal echocardiography can assess disease acuity and identify vasculitis, myocarditis, and myocardial infarction.
Authors: Sophie I Mavrogeni; Petros P Sfikakis; Theodoros Dimitroulas; Loukia Koutsogeorgopoulou; Gikas Katsifis; George Markousis-Mavrogenis; Genovefa Kolovou; George D Kitas Journal: Rheumatol Int Date: 2018-03-07 Impact factor: 2.631
Authors: Sophie I Mavrogeni; George Markousis-Mavrogenis; David Heutemann; Kees van Wijk; Hans J Reiber; Genovefa Kolovou Journal: World J Methodol Date: 2015-09-26
Authors: Joseph P Lynch; Jennifer Hwang; Jason Bradfield; Michael Fishbein; Kalyanam Shivkumar; Roderick Tung Journal: Semin Respir Crit Care Med Date: 2014-07-09 Impact factor: 3.119
Authors: Karen G Ordovas; Lauren A Baldassarre; Chiara Bucciarelli-Ducci; James Carr; Juliano Lara Fernandes; Vanessa M Ferreira; Luba Frank; Sophie Mavrogeni; Ntobeko Ntusi; Ellen Ostenfeld; Purvi Parwani; Alessia Pepe; Subha V Raman; Hajime Sakuma; Jeanette Schulz-Menger; Lilia M Sierra-Galan; Anne Marie Valente; Monvadi B Srichai Journal: J Cardiovasc Magn Reson Date: 2021-05-10 Impact factor: 5.364