The handicapped school leaver.

Abstract

<h3>Objectives</h3> To prospectively investigate the prevalence of fat deposition in dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) by fat-water separation imaging. An auxiliary aim was to determine the relationship between LV fat deposition and characteristic myocardial fibrosis, as well as cardiac functional parameters. <h3>Methods</h3> Forty-eight patients with DCM were scanned on a 1.5 T MR scanner (MAGNETOM Avanto, Siemens, Germany) after written informed consent was obtained. The MR scan protocols included a series of short-axis LV cine imaging for functional analysis, fat-water separation imaging using VARPRO, and late gadolinium enhanced (LGE) imaging for fibrosis. Fat-water separation imaging was covered the entire LV myocardium. Fat deposition and fibrosis location were compared to the scar regions on LGE images using 17-segment model. Statistical comparisons of LV global functional parameters, fibrosis volumes, and fat deposition were carried out using the Pearson correlation, student t test and multiple regressions. <h3>Results</h3> A fat deposition prevalence of 29.2% (14/48) was found in areas of DCM. The patients with fat deposition had larger myocardial fibrosis (27.0±15.1 cm³ vs 12.8±6.1 cm³; p&lt;0.01), larger LVEDV (267.8±48.8 ml vs 201.6±46.5, p&lt;0.01) and decreased LV ejection fraction (19.5%±8.4 vs 29.0%±12.1; p&lt;0.01). The volume of fat deposition was correlated with scar volume, LV ejection fraction, LV end-diastolic volume index, and LV end-systolic volume index. <h3>Conclusions</h3> Fat deposition is quite a common phenomenon in DCM. And it is associated with DCM characteristics such as fibrosis volume and LV function.