Role of cardiac magnetic resonance in heart failure of initially unknown etiology: A 10-year observational study.

BACKGROUND

The heart failure (HF) population is estimated to be 64.3 million people worldwide and continues to grow. Identifying the underlying cause of HF is crucial for patient management and prognosis.

AIMS: We sought to evaluate the role of cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging to identify the etiology of HF and to evaluate the impact of CMR on diagnosis and patient management.

METHODS

We retrospectively reviewed the medical charts of 8630 consecutive patients referred for CMR in a large tertiary center between 2008 and 2017 (10 years). In this study, we only included patients referred for CMR due to HF of unknown etiology whose diagnostic workup had not revealed suspicion of any specific cardiac disease leading to HF. We also analyzed changes in patient management that were guided by the CMR findings, which were defined as changes in treatment and/or the necessity of further tests.

RESULTS

The study sample included 243 patients: 173 (71.2%) patients were male, and the mean (SD) age was 44.0 (15.2) years. All patients underwent contrast-enhanced CMR. Late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) was detected in 74.9% of cases. In 94 patients (38.7%), CMR led to a new diagnosis. In 41 patients (16.9%), patient management was changed by CMR. The latter group comprised patients with coronary artery disease, amyloidosis, valvular disease, and cardiomyopathies other than dilated, namely hypertrophic, restrictive, and left ventricular noncompaction.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study strongly suggests that CMR imaging is a valuable tool for determining the etiology of HF and affects patient management.