Concomitant cardiac amyloidosis (CA) in severe aortic stenosis (AS) is difficult to recognize, since both conditions are associated with concentric left ventricular thickening. We aimed to assess type, frequency, screening parameters, and prognostic implications of CA in AS.

AimsRecent data indicate that right ventricular systolic dysfunction (RVSD) by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) is a strong predictor of outcome in heart failure. However, the prognostic significance of RVSD by CMR in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) Methods and resultsWe prospectively enrolled 171 HFpEF patients who underwent CMR in addition to invasive and non-invasive testing. RVSD, defined as right ventricular (RV) EF <45% by CMR, was present in 33 (19.3 %) patients. Patients were followed for 573 ± 387 days, during which 41 had a cardiac event. Patients with RVSD presented with more frequent history of AF (P = 0.038), significantly higher resting heart rate (P = 0.009), shorter 6-min walk distance (P = 0.036), and higher NT-pro BNP serum levels (P < 0.001), and were more symptomatic (P < 0.001). With respect to haemodynamic parameters, RVSD was associated with respect to haemodynamic parameters, RVSD was associated with higher diastolic pulmonary artery pressure (P = 0.045), with higher pulmonary vascular resistance (P = 0.048), higher transpulmonary gradient (P = 0.042), and higher diastolic pulmonary vascular pressure gradient (P = 0.007). In the multivariable Cox analysis, RVSD (P < 0.001) remained significantly associated with cardiac events, in addition to diabetes (P = 0.011), 6-min walk distance (P = 0.018), and systolic pulmonary artery pressure (P = 0.003).

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N early half of all heart failure patients present with normal or near normal systolic left ventricular (LV) function. 1 This condition has been labeled heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF).2 The pathophysiology underlying HFpEF is complex and still incompletely understood. Expansion of the extracellular volume (ECV) due to accumulation of extracellular matrix in the interstitial myocardial space is thought to be one of the main pathophysiologic mechanisms underlying LV stiffening in HFpEF.3,4 Despite the central role of ECV in this condition, data on its prognostic relevance are limited. 5 The gold standard for ECV quantification relies on the histological analysis of endomyocardial biopsies retrieved from the LV. This method, however, is invasive and carries significant risks. Our group previously showed that myocardial postcontrast T1 time by cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging is significantly associated with prognosis and correlates with ECV by histology.5 However, more recently, CMR T1 mapping, using the modified Look-Locker inversion recovery (MOLLI) sequence, has been proposed as the more robust technique, independent of potential confounders such as renal function, heart rate, or time of acquisition.6-10 However, the diagnostic and prognostic power of ECV as measured by the MOLLI technique in HFpEF is unknown.