Myocardial extracellular volume measurement using cardiac computed tomography

Int J Cardiovasc Imaging. 2024 Nov;40(11):2237-2245. doi: 10.1007/s10554-024-03226-4. Epub 2024 Oct 14.

Abstract

Myocardial fibrosis is a common endpoint of many cardiac diseases and increasingly recognized as a predictor of heart failure, arrhythmia, and death. Recent studies have utilised cardiac computed tomography (CT) scans with delayed phase imaging to quantify diffuse fibrosis of the myocardium. CT extracellular volume (CT-ECV) measurement correlates well with CMR and histological myocardial fibrosis. Furthermore, CT-ECV predicts outcomes such as death, heart failure and arrhythmia in various disease states. This review summarizes the rationale and methodology behind CT-ECV measurement and provides a detailed summary of the current clinical evidence for the use of CT-ECV.

Keywords: Cardiomyopathies; Fibrosis; Multidetector Computed Tomography; Myocardium.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Cardiomyopathies / diagnostic imaging
  • Cardiomyopathies / pathology
  • Cardiomyopathies / physiopathology
  • Fibrosis
  • Humans
  • Myocardium* / pathology
  • Predictive Value of Tests
  • Prognosis
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed