Cardiac Amyloidosis: The Role of Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Linda Sim, Christopher Semsarian, David Celermajer, Rajesh Puranik

Department Cardiology, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, Australia.

DOI: 10.4236/ojcd.2014.41006                

Abstract

Amyloidosis, an infiltrative disease characterized by deposition of high molecular weight insoluble protein has a low detection rate and poor prognosis with congestive heart failure being the most common cause of death. Although definitive diagnosis is based on endomyocardial biopsy, this is rarely performed due to procedural risk and sampling error. Traditional non-invasive imaging, such as transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) and electrocardiogram (ECG) lacks sensitivity detecting the disease in its early stages. This case report demonstrates the utility of cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging in addition to traditional imaging modalities in this often clinically challenging problem.

Keywords

Cardiac Amyloidosis; Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging (CMR); Transthoracic Echocardiography (TTE); Electrocardiography (ECG); Congestive Cardiac Failure (CCF)

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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