Diffuse myocardial fibrosis in early forms of dilated cardiomyopathy: insights from T1 mapping cardiovascular magnetic resonance

Background The underlying myocardial injury in early forms of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is unclear. Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) myocardial T1-mapping monitors the enlargement of the cardiac extra-cellular space and thus offers a non-invasive tool of quantitative measurement of myocardial fibrosis. We used T1mapping techniques to explore the hypothesis that diffuse myocardial fibrosis is related to DCM.