Association between Late Gadolinium Enhancement on CMR and Left Ventricular Longitudinal Systolic Dysfunction in Patients with Nonischemic Dilated Cardiomyopathy

Background: It has been reported that late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) detected by cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) predicts adverse cardiovascular outcomes in patients with nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy (NICM). On the other hand, worsening left ventricular (LV) global longitudinal strain (GLS) assessed by speckle-tracking echocardiography is related to long-term outcome in patients with NICM. We investigated the relationship between LGE and GLS in patients with NICM. Methods: We studied 32 patients with NICM. They performed both CMR and speckle-tracking echocardiography. Presence of LGE was assessed by LGE-CMR. LV end diastolic volume (EDV), end systolic volume (ESV) and ejection fraction (EF) were calculated by cine CMR. GLS was evaluated from 3 apical views by speckle-tracking echocardiography. Results: LGE was presented in 16(50%) of all patients. There were no significant differences in LVEDV, LVESV and LVEF between the patients with and without LGE. GLS in patients with LGE was significantly worse compared with that in patients without LGE (−7.6 ± 3.2 vs −10.5 ± 3.2, P = .008). GLS −8.2% was the best threshold value for identifying LGE (sensitivity 81%, specificity 75%, area under the curve 0.78). The presence of LGE was significantly higher in the patients with GLS>−8.2% compared with the patients with GLS<−8.2% (13 [76%] vs. 3 [20%], P = .004). Conclusions: In patients with NICM, GLS was worse in patients with LGE compared with those without LGE.