Cardiovascular magnetic resonance T2 mapping detects myocardial edema in patients with chronic dilated cardiomyopathy

Background Global myocardial edema, a surrogate measure of myocardial inflammation, has been reported in patients with chronic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) based on T2weighted STIR imaging. However, STIR imaging is prone to motion artefact and issues related to cardiac cycle timing and coil sensitivity. We hypothesised that a novel quantitative CMR T2 mapping technique would provide a reliable and reproducible measure for the detection of myocardial edema in chronic non-ischemic DCM.