Relationship between edema and wall thickness in acute myocardial infarction

Methods We studied nineteen patients with reperfused acute MI without microvascular obstruction (LAD: n = 7; LCX: n = 1; RCA: n = 11). We also studied six healthy subjects. Patients underwent cine CMR imaging, T2-weighted CMR (STIR), and late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) CMR 2.5 +/1.2 days after acute MI. Each short axis was divided into 12-equi-angular segments. The presence of edema and infarction was verified and evaluated semi-quantitatively for each segment, using 2SD above the mean of normal myocardium as a threshold on T2-weighted CMR and 5SD above the mean on LGE images. Wall thickness was measured in the salvaged area at risk, the infarction and in region without evidence for edema using a centerline method with 48 chords (Figure 1). We used the mean of 4 chords as EDWT, resulting in a total of 12 segments. from 13th Annual SCMR Scientific Sessions Phoenix, AZ, USA. 21-24 January 2010