Myocardial Deformation in Acute Myocarditis With Normal Left Ventricular Wall Motion: A Cardiac Magnetic Resonance and 2-Dimensional Strain Echocardiographic Study

• Published in: Circulation Journal 2010, Vol.74(6), pp.1205-1213
• Main Authors: Bella, Gianluca Di, Gaeta, Michele, Pingitore, Alessandro, Oreto, Giuseppe, Zito, Concetta, Minutoli, Fabio, Anfuso, Carmelo, Dattilo, Giuseppe, Lamari, Annalisa, Coglitore, Sebastiano, Carerj, Scipione
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Case-Control Studies; Echocardiography, Stress - methods; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Angiography; Magnetic resonance imaging; Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods; Male; Motion; Myocarditis; Myocarditis - diagnostic imaging; Myocarditis - pathology; Myocardium - pathology; Tissue Doppler imaging; Ventricular Function, Left; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1346-9843; 1347-4820
• DOI: 10.1253/circj.CJ-10-0017

Background: The aim of our study was to assess longitudinal (L), circumferential (C) and radial (R) strain (S) of the left ventricle (LV) in patients with acute myocarditis and preserved LV wall motion. Methods and Results: Of the 26 male patients that were enrolled, 13 patients (26±8 years) suffered from acute myocarditis and 13 (25±2 years) were healthy participants (controls). Both patients and controls underwent cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) and 2-dimensional S imaging (2D-S) echocardiography on the same day. Myocardial strains (RS, LS and CS) were quantified by 2D-S. In patients with myocarditis, a delayed enhancement (DE) CMR study was performed to identify damaged myocardial segments. In the myocarditis group there was a significant LS reduction compared with controls (-25±7 vs -20±7, P