Prognostic Value of Nonischemic Ringlike Left Ventricular Scar in Patients with Apparently Idiopathic Nonsustained Ventricular Arrhythmias

Daniele Muser, Gaetano Nucifora, Maurizio Pieroni, Simon A. Castro, Ruben Casado Arroyo, Shingo Maeda, Daniel A. Benhayon, Ioan Liuba, Mouhannad Sadek, Silvia Magnani, Andres Enriquez, Jackson J. Liang, Biagio Sassone, Benoit Desjardins, Sanjay Dixit, Rajat Deo, Fermin C. Garcia, David J. Callans, David S. Frankel, Joseph B. SelvanayagamFrancis E. Marchlinski, Pasquale Santangeli

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

52 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Background: Left ventricular (LV) scar on late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) cardiac magnetic resonance has been correlated with life-threatening arrhythmic events in patients with apparently idiopathic ventricular arrhythmias (VAs). We investigated the prognostic significance of a specific LV-LGE phenotype characterized by a ringlike pattern of fibrosis. Methods: A total of 686 patients with apparently idiopathic nonsustained VA underwent contrast-enhanced cardiac magnetic resonance. A ringlike pattern of LV scar was defined as LV subepicardial/midmyocardial LGE involving at least 3 contiguous segments in the same short-axis slice. The end point of the study was time to the composite outcome of all-cause death, resuscitated cardiac arrest because of ventricular fibrillation or hemodynamically unstable ventricular tachycardia and appropriate implantable cardioverter defibrillator therapy. Results: A total of 28 patients (4%) had a ringlike pattern of scar (group A), 78 (11%) had a non-ringlike pattern (group B), and 580 (85%) had normal cardiac magnetic resonance with no LGE (group C). Group A patients were younger compared with groups B and C (median age, 40 vs 52 vs 45 years; P<0.01), more frequently men (96% vs 82% vs 55%; P<0.01), with a higher prevalence of family history of sudden cardiac death or cardiomyopathy (39% vs 14% vs 6%; P<0.01) and more frequent history of unexplained syncope (18% vs 9% vs 3%; P<0.01). All patients in group A showed VA with a right bundle-branch block morphology versus 69% in group B and 21% in group C (P<0.01). Multifocal VAs were observed in 46% of group A patients compared with 26% of group B and 4% of group C (P<0.01). After a median follow-up of 61 months (range, 34-84 months), the composite outcome occurred in 14 patients (50.0%) in group A versus 15 (19.0%) in group B and 2 (0.3%) in group C (P<0.01). After multivariable adjustment, the presence of LGE with ringlike pattern remained independently associated with increased risk of the composite end point (hazard ratio, 68.98 [95% CI, 14.67-324.39], P<0.01). Conclusions: In patients with apparently idiopathic nonsustained VA, nonischemic LV scar with a ringlike pattern is associated with malignant arrhythmic events.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1359-1373
Number of pages15
JournalCirculation
Volume143
Issue number14
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 6 Apr 2021

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Lippincott Williams and Wilkins. All rights reserved.

Keywords

  • arrhythmias
  • cardiac gadolinium
  • magnetic resonance angiography
  • prognosis

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