Evaluation of the Left Ventricular Structure and Function in Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy with 3-Tesla Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Purpose: To investigate the left ventricular structure and function in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) in comparison with control healthy subjects with 3-Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Materials and methods: Between August and October 2014, 32 HCM patients (20 males with a mean age of 45 years) and 30 healthy control subjects (22 males with a mean age of 41 years) were enrolled in this study to undergo 3-Tesla MRI for evaluation of the left ventricular structure and function. The end-diastolic volume (EDV), endsystolic volume (ESV), end-diastolic myocardial mass (MM), left ventricular wall thickness (WT), stroke volume (SV), ejection fraction (EF) and peak filling rate (PFR) were calculated and compared in the HCM patients with the healthy subjects. Results: All the participants had normal sinus rhythm and finished the MRI scanning. Among the 32 HCM patients, asymmetric hypertrophy was present in 19 patients, symmetric or concentric HCM in 5, and apical HCM in 8. Compared with the healthy control, the HCM group showed significantly (P < 0.01) decreased left ventricular volumes (EDV 83.2 +/- 14.8 and ESV 25.4 +/- 5.6 in HCM vs. 112.4 +/- 8.2 and 38.4 +/- 3.5 in healthy subjects, respectively) and SV (57.8 +/- 15.2 vs. 74.0 +/- 8.9) but significantly (P < 0.01) increased ventricular EF (69.4 +/- 7.0 vs. 65.8 +/- 3.2), WT (19 +/- 5.3 vs. 8.5 +/- 1.5) and MM (179.3 +/- 51.7 vs. 93.2 +/- 17.1). The PFR was significantly (P < 0.05) decreased in the HCM subjects compared to the healthy control (249.6 +/- 79.7 vs. 300.2 +/- 51.4). Conclusion: Three-Tesla Magnetic resonance imaging demonstrates that the left ventricular structure and function are severely damaged in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy compared with healthy subjects.