Myocardial fibrosis detected by magnetic resonance in systemic sclerosis patients – Relationship with biochemical and echocardiography parameters

Abstract Objectives Systemic scleroderma (SSc) is a rare connective tissue disease presenting with fibrosis affecting skin and internal organs. Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) with quantification of extracellular volume (ECV) and T1 mapping might help to detect heart involvement. We aimed to evaluate whether myocardial involvement correlates with functional and laboratory parameters. Methods Thirty-three asymptomatic SSc patients (29 women, aged 56.6±12.2years) and 20 controls (10 women, 53.7±13.1years) were examined using CMR, echocardiography, functional pulmonary test and laboratory assessment. Results SSc patients had higher ECV (27.5±2.8 vs. 22.8±1.9%, P Conclusions Asymptomatic heart involvement is common in SSc patients and includes focal and diffuse myocardial fibrosis. GDF-15 and galectin-3 were positively correlated with myocardial fibrosis parameters. Future outcome studies must show whether measurement of GDF-15 and galectin-3 in SSC patients might be may be useful in clinical practice.