Conductive Channels Identified With Contrast-Enhanced MR Imaging Predict Ventricular Tachycardia in Systolic Heart Failure
Author + information
- Lian-Yu Lin, MD, PhD∗,
- Mao-Yuan M. Su, PhD†,
- Jien-Jiun Chen, MD‡,
- Ling-Ping Lai, MD, PhD∗,
- Juey-Jen Hwang, MD, PhD∗,
- Chuen-Den Tseng, MD, PhD∗,
- Yih-Sharng Chen, MD, PhD§,
- Hsi-Yu Yu, MD, PhD§,
- Wen-Yih I. Tseng, MD, PhD†,‖∗∗ (wytseng{at}ntu.edu.tw) and
- Jiunn-Lee Lin, MD, PhD∗∗ (jiunnlee{at}ntu.edu.tw)
- ∗Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
- †Department of Medical Imaging, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
- ‡Cardiovascular Center, National Taiwan University Hospital Yun-Lin Branch, Douliou, Taiwan
- §Department of Surgery, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
- ‖Center for Optoelectronic Biomedicine, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan
- ↵∗Reprint requests and correspondence:
Dr. Jiunn-Lee Lin, Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, No. 7, Chun-Shan S. Road, Taipei, Taiwan. - ↵∗∗Dr. Wen-Yih I. Tseng, Center for Optoelectronic Biomedicine, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, No. 1, Jen-Ai Road, Section 1, Taipei, Taiwan.
Abstract
Objectives This study evaluated whether the conductive channel (CC) identified by late gadolinium enhanced–cardiac magnetic resonance (LGE-CMR) is associated with ventricular tachycardia (VT) in patients with systolic heart failure (HF).
Background One recent study demonstrated that the CC formed by heterogeneous tissue within the core scar could be detected by LGE-CMR and that the CC is responsible for clinical VT. We hypothesized that the CC could help identify HF patients at risk for VT.
Methods A total of 63 patients from a CMR database with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) below 50% and with hyperenhancement on LGE-CMR were included. The cine and LGE images were analyzed to derive the LV function and scar characteristics, and to identify the CC. The outcomes, including VT, ventricular fibrillation (VF), and total mortality, were obtained by reviewing medical records.
Results After a median 1,379 (interquartile range: 271 to 1,896) days of follow-up, 8 patients had VT/VF attacks and 14 patients died. Among the CMR-measured parameters, only the probability of identifying the CC by LGE-CMR was higher in patients with VT/VF than those without VT/VF (75.0% vs. 16.4%, p < 0.001). The probability of identifying the CC was also higher in the total mortality group than the survival group (50.0% vs. 16.3%, p = 0.004). The other LGE-CMR variables were not significantly different between the 2 groups. A univariate Cox regression model showed that CC identification was positively associated with VT/VF attacks (hazard ratio [HR]: 27.032, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.291 to 222.054, p = 0.002) and excess total mortality (HR: 4.766, 95% CI: 1.643 to 13.824, p = 0.004). The LVEF was inversely associated with VT/VF attacks (HR: 0.119, 95% CI: 0.015 to 0.977, p = 0.048) and excess total mortality (HR: 0.491, 95% CI: 0.261 to 0.925, p = 0.028) during follow-up.
Conclusions We demonstrated that CC identification using LGE-CMR can help identify HF patients at risk for VT/VF.
Footnotes
This work was supported in part by the National Science Council, Taiwan (grant numbers: NSC-99-2314-B-002-116-MY3 and NSC-102-2314-B-002-087-MY2). The authors have reported that they have no relationships relevant to the contents of this paper to disclose. Drs. L-Y Lin and Su contributed equally to this work.
- Received November 9, 2012.
- Revision received May 3, 2013.
- Accepted May 6, 2013.
- American College of Cardiology Foundation
