Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Infiltrative Cardiomyopathy

Abstract

Infiltrative cardiomyopathies are a wide spectrum of disorders characterized by deposition of abnormal substances in the myocardium. These have a varied etiology and can be idiopathic, familial, or secondary to systemic disorders. The infiltrative process primarily causes a diastolic dysfunction resulting in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. Common infiltrative cardiomyopathies encountered are cardiac amyloidosis, sarcoidosis, Fabry disease, iron overload cardiomyopathy, endomyocardial fibrosis, and idiopathic restrictive cardiomyopathy. Early and accurate detection of cause of infiltration is very important to improve outcomes through disease-specific therapies. Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) plays an important role in the diagnosis, avoiding the need of invasive endomyocardial biopsy in many cases. The use of postcontrast late gadolinium enhancement and T1 and T2 mapping sequences in CMR is improving diagnosis of infiltrative cardiomyopathy. In this review, we highlight the role of CMR in detection of different types of infiltrative cardiomyopathy.