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Updated: May 17, 2026

Estimating Bilateral Atrial Function by Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Feature Tracking in Patients with Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation
08:10

Estimating Bilateral Atrial Function by Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Feature Tracking in Patients with Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation

Published on: July 20, 2022

Diffuse ventricular fibrosis in atrial fibrillation: noninvasive evaluation and relationships with aging and systolic

Liang-Han Ling1, Peter M Kistler, Andris H Ellims

  • 1Alfred Hospital and Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Journal of the American College of Cardiology
|November 13, 2012
PubMed

Insights

This study shows that contrast-enhanced T1 mapping can detect diffuse left ventricular (LV) fibrosis in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). This technique offers new insights into how AF relates to adverse ventricular remodeling.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Medical Imaging
  • Biomedical Engineering

Background:

  • Diffuse myocardial fibrosis is a key indicator of cardiomyopathy, often undetectable by standard cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging.
  • Contrast-enhanced T1 mapping offers a method to quantify diffuse fibrosis, distinct from replacement fibrosis.
  • In atrial fibrillation (AF), fibrosis may stem from the arrhythmia itself or indicate underlying cardiomyopathy.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To assess diffuse left ventricular (LV) myocardial fibrosis in patients diagnosed with atrial fibrillation (AF).

Main Methods:

  • Ninety participants (23 controls, 40 paroxysmal AF, 27 persistent AF) underwent CMR on a 1.5-T scanner.
  • Cardiac morphology and function were assessed using cine imaging.
  • Post-contrast T1 relaxation time (T1 time) of the LV myocardium was calculated using a validated T1 mapping sequence as a measure of diffuse myocardial fibrosis.

Main Results:

  • Persistent AF patients exhibited larger left atrium volumes and reduced ejection fraction compared to controls and paroxysmal AF patients.
  • Significant differences in post-contrast ventricular T1 time were observed across all groups (controls, paroxysmal AF, persistent AF).
  • Age, AF category, and ejection fraction were identified as independent predictors of post-contrast T1 time after multivariate analysis.

Conclusions:

  • Post-contrast T1 mapping is effective in identifying diffuse LV fibrosis in patients with AF.
  • This imaging technique provides novel understanding of the relationship between AF and adverse ventricular remodeling.
Abstract

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