Whole-body cardiovascular MRI for the comparison of atherosclerotic burden and cardiac remodelling in healthy South Asian and European adults.

Objective:To determine the feasibility of using whole-body cardiovascular MRI (WB-CVMR) to compare South Asians (SAs)—a population known to have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) but paradoxically lower prevalence of peripheral arterial disease—and Western Europeans (WEs).Methods:19 SAs and 38 age-, gender- and body mass index-matched WEs were recruited. All were aged 40 years and over, free from CVD and with a 10-year risk of CVD <20% as assessed by the adult treatment panel (ATP) III risk score. WB-CVMR was performed, comprising a whole-body angiogram (WBA) and cardiac MR (CMR), on a 3-T MRI scanner (Magnetom® Trio; Siemens, Erlangen, Germany) following dual-phase injection of gadolinium-based contrast agent. A standardized atheroma score (SAS) was calculated from the WBA while indexed left ventricular mass and volumes were calculated from the CMR.Results:SAs exhibited a significantly lower iliofemoral atheroma burden (regional SAS 0.0 ± 0.0 vs 1.9 ± 6.9, p = 0.048) and a trend towards lower...