Display options
Cite
Zatorska K, Michalowska I, Duchnowski P, et al. The Usefulness of Magnetic Resonance Imaging in the Diagnosis of Infectious Endocarditis. J Heart Valve Dis. 2015;24(6):767-775
Zatorska, K., Michalowska, I., Duchnowski, P., Szymanski, P., Kusmierczyk, M., & Hryniewiecki, T. (2015). The Usefulness of Magnetic Resonance Imaging in the Diagnosis of Infectious Endocarditis. The Journal of heart valve disease, 24(6), 767-775.
Zatorska, Karina, et al. "The Usefulness of Magnetic Resonance Imaging in the Diagnosis of Infectious Endocarditis." The Journal of heart valve disease vol. 24,6 (2015): 767-775.
Zatorska K, Michalowska I, Duchnowski P, Szymanski P, Kusmierczyk M, Hryniewiecki T. The Usefulness of Magnetic Resonance Imaging in the Diagnosis of Infectious Endocarditis. J Heart Valve Dis. 2015 Nov;24(6):767-775. PMID: 27997784.
Copy Download .nbib Format: NLM
Share it on

J Heart Valve Dis. 2015 Nov;24(6):767-775.

The Usefulness of Magnetic Resonance Imaging in the Diagnosis of Infectious Endocarditis.

The Journal of heart valve disease

Karina Zatorska, Ilona Michalowska, Piotr Duchnowski, Piotr Szymanski, Mariusz Kusmierczyk, Tomasz Hryniewiecki

Affiliations

  1. Department of Acquired Heart Defects.
  2. Radiology Department.
  3. Department of Cardiosurgery, Institute of Cardiology, Warsaw, Poland.

PMID: 27997784

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Whilst echocardiography is currently the 'gold standard' for the diagnosis of infective endocarditis (IE), it has certain limitations and alternative imaging methods are being sought. The study aim was assess the usefulness of cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging when diagnosing IE.

METHODS: Twenty consecutive patients with diagnosed IE were included in the study. All patients underwent CMR and transthoracic echocardiography, and 16 (80%) underwent also transesophageal echocardiography.

RESULTS: CMR revealed vegetations in 15 patients (75%). Following echocardiography, vegetations were identified in 19 patients (95%) and valve perforation was suspected in seven (35%); vegetations were identified by CMR in six (30%) of these patients. Echocardiography identified two patients suspected of perivalvular abscess; in one patient the abscess was diagnosed also by CMR and intraoperatively, but in the second patient neither CMR nor intraoperative examination confirmed this diagnosis. Late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) was reported at CMR in eight patients (40%), associated with an extension of the inflammatory process and myocardium infiltration. The valve insufficiency fraction allowed the degree of insufficiency of the valves affected by inflammatory processes to be estimated. A positive correlation was found between the degree of valve insufficiency assessed with CMR and echocardiography.

CONCLUSIONS: CMR may serve as a useful method for diagnosing perivalvular complications in IE patients, although vegetation visualization is limited by the low spatial resolution of the method. CMR may prove superior to echocardiography in evaluating the degree of inflammatory process involvement in the myocardium. The degree of valve insufficiency and its hemodynamic significance can also be assessed.

Publication Types