Contrast-enhanced cardiac MRI is superior to non-contrast mapping to predict left ventricular remodeling at 6 months after acute myocardial infarction

Objectives Parametric mapping constitutes a novel cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) technique enabling quantitative assessment of pathologic alterations of left ventricular (LV) myocardium. This study aimed to investigate the clinical utility of mapping techniques with and without contrast agent compared to standard CMR to predict adverse LV remodeling following acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Materials and methods A post hoc analysis was performed on sixty-four consecutively enrolled patients (57 ± 12 years, 54 men) with first-time reperfused AMI. Baseline CMR was obtained at 8 ± 5 days post-AMI, and follow-up CMR at 6 ± 1.4 months. T1/T2 mapping, T2-weighted, and late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) acquisitions were performed at baseline and cine imaging was used to determine adverse LV remodeling, defined as end-diastolic volume increase by 20% at 6 months. Results A total of 11 (17%) patients developed adverse LV remodeling. At baseline, patients with LV remodeling showed larger edema (30 ± 11 vs. 22 ± 10%LV; p < 0.05), infarct size (24 ± 11 vs. 14 ± 8%LV; p < 0.001), extracellular volume (ECV infarct ; 63 ± 12 vs. 47 ± 11%; p < 0.001), and native T2 infarct (95 ± 16 vs. 78 ± 17 ms; p < 0.01). ECV infarct and infarct size by LGE were the best predictors of LV remodeling with areas under the curve (AUCs) of 0.843 and 0.789, respectively (all p < 0.01). Native T1 infarct had the lowest AUC of 0.549 ( p = 0.668) and was inferior to edema size by T2-weighted imaging (AUC = 0.720; p < 0.05) and native T2 infarct (AUC = 0.766; p < 0.01). Conclusion In this study, ECV infarct and infarct size by LGE were the best predictors for the development of LV remodeling within 6 months after AMI, with a better discriminative performance than non-contrast mapping CMR. Clinical relevance statement This study demonstrates the predictive value of contrast-enhanced and non-contrast as well as conventional and novel CMR techniques for the development of LV remodeling following AMI, which might help define precise CMR endpoints in experimental and clinical myocardial infarction trials. Key Points • Multiparametric CMR provides insights into left ventricular remodeling at 6 months following an acute myocardial infarction. • Extracellular volume fraction and infarct size are the best predictors for adverse left ventricular remodeling. • Contrast-enhanced T1 mapping has a better predictive performance than non-contrast standard CMR and T1/T2 mapping.