The relationship between hypertrophy, perfusion abnormalities and fibrosis is unknown in young patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Since mounting evidence suggests causal relationship between myocardial ischemia and major adverse cardiac events, we sought to investigate whether (1) regional myocardial perfusion is decreased in young HCM patients and in individuals at risk of HCM, and (2) hypoperfused areas are larger than areas with fibrosis. HCM patients (n = 12), HCM-risk subjects (n = 15) and controls (n = 9) were imaged on a 1.5 T MRI scanner. Myocardial hypertrophy was assessed on cine images. Perfusion images were acquired during adenosine hyperemia and at rest. Maximum upslope ratios of perfusion (stress/rest) were used for semiquantitative analysis. Fibrosis was assessed by late gadolinium enhancement (LGE). Results are presented as median and range. Perfusion in HCM-risk subjects and in non-hypertrophied segments in HCM patients showed no difference compared to controls (P = ns). Hypertrophic segments in HCM patients without LGE showed decreased perfusion compared to segments without hypertrophy [1.5 (1.1-2.3) vs. 2.0 (1.8-2.6), P < 0.001], and hypertrophic segments with LGE showed even lower perfusion using a segmental analysis [0.9 (0.6-1.8), P < 0.05]. The extent of hypoperfused myocardium in HCM patients during adenosine exceeded the extent of fibrosis on LGE [20 (0-48) vs. 4 (0-7) % slice area, P < 0.05] and hypoperfused areas at rest (P < 0.001). Regional perfusion is decreased in hypertrophied compared to non-hypertrophied myocardium and is lowest in fibrotic myocardium in young HCM patients but does not discriminate HCM-risk subjects from controls. The stress-induced hypoperfused regions exceed regions with LGE, indicating that hypoperfusion precedes fibrosis and may be a more sensitive marker of diseased myocardium in HCM.
Keywords: CMR; Fibrosis; Ischemia; Magnetic resonance imaging; Myocardial perfusion.