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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Chris Kotanidis
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Background: A routine diagnostic work-up does not identify structural abnormalities in a substantial proportion of patients with idiopathic ventricular arrhythmias (VAs). We investigated the added value of cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging in this group of patients. Methods: A single-centre prospective study was undertaken of 72 patients (mean age 46 ± 16 years; 53% females) with frequent premature ventricular contractions (PVCs ≥ 500/24 h) and/or non-sustained ventricular tachycardia (NSVT), an otherwise normal electrocardiogram, normal echocardiography and no coronary artery disease. Results: CMR provided an additional diagnostic yield in 54.2% of patients. The most prevalent diagnosis was previous myocarditis (23.6%) followed by possible PVC-related cardiomyopathy (20.8%), non-ischaemic cardiomyopathy (8.3%) and ischaemic heart disease (1.4%). The predictors of abnormal CMR findings were male gender, age and PVCs/NSVT non-outflow tract-related or with multiple morphologies. Patients with VAs had an impaired peak left ventricular (LV) global radial strain (GRS) compared with the controls (28.88% (IQR: 25.87% to 33.97%) vs. 36.65% (IQR: 33.19% to 40.2%), p < 0.001) and a global circumferential strain (GCS) (−17.66% (IQR: −19.62% to −16.23%) vs. −20.66% (IQR: −21.72% to −19.6%), p < 0.001). Conclusion: CMR reveals abnormalities in a significant proportion of patients with frequent idiopathic VAs. Male gender, age and non-outflow tract PVC origin can be clinical indicators for CMR referral.
Author(s): Nikolaidou C, Kotanidis CP, Wijesurendra R, Leal-Pelado J, Kouskouras K, Vassilikos VP, Karvounis H, Ntusi N, Antoniades C, Neubauer S, Karamitsos TD
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Diagnostics
Year: 2021
Volume: 11
Issue: 6
Online publication date: 18/06/2021
Acceptance date: 15/06/2021
Date deposited: 21/12/2022
ISSN (electronic): 2075-4418
Publisher: MDPI
URL: https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics11061109
DOI: 10.3390/diagnostics11061109
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