1Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt
2Department of Internal Medicine, Rheumatology and Immunology Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt
3Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt
*Corresponding e-mail: dr_ahmed_hosny@msn.com
Online published on 13 December, 2018.
Lupus myocarditis is a potentially life-threatening condition. It can be oligosymptomatic or even silent. Lupus myocarditis necessitates a reliable imaging tool for early detection.
This study aimed to assess myocardial edema in active Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) patients with T2 weighted dual inversion recovery black blood sequence.
Cardiac MRI was performed on 20 active SLE patients (17 females and 3 males) with no history of previous cardiovascular diseases. Transthoracic echocardiography was performed for all patients.
Functional MRI analysis revealed preserved EF% (n=12) and reduced EF% (n=8). A highly statistically significant correlation between EF measured by ECHO and CMR was detected. The analysis revealed an excellent agreement between the two measures, ICC=0.753. Myocardial edema was noticed in 5 patients. One case showed delayed enhancement in LGE images and 7 patients (7/20) had pericardial effusion successfully diagnosed by both echocardiography and CMR.
T2-double IR black blood imaging identified the worthy percentage of myocardial edema in active SLE patients, even in absence of clinical symptoms, denoting early myocardial involvement. Thus, cardiac MRI is a potential non-invasive diagnostic tool for cardiac surveillance in SLE patients.
Cardiac MRI, Systemic lupus erythematosus, Echocardiography
