PAPER OF THE WEEK

Prevalence of scarred and dysfunctional myocardium in patients with heart failure of ischaemic origin: A cardiovascular magnetic resonance study
Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance 2011, 13:53

Dr. Christos V Bourantas and cols assessed the prevalence of dysfunctional myocardium, including partial thickness scar in patients with heart failure and ischaemic heart disease who denied angina symptoms. They concluded that in their cohort of patients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction and ischaemic heart disease, about half of all segments had contractile dysfunction but only one third of these had >50% of the wall thickness affected by scar, suggesting that most dysfunctional segments could improve in response to an appropriate intervention.