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Aims The purpose of the study was to compare the accuracy of cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) with echocardiography for the evaluation of ventricular dysfunction in patients of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). Further, we evaluated the potential of CMR for myocardial tissue characterization. Design Prospective observational. Materials and Methods A total of 30 patients with suspected DCM prospectively underwent cardiac magnetic resonance (MR) using a 1.5 Tesla MR scanner, with appropriate phased-array body coils. Dynamic sequences after injection of 0.1 mmol/kg of body weight of gadolinium-based intravenous contrast (Magnevist) were acquired for each patient, after which delayed images were obtained at an interval of 12 to 15 minutes. Myocardial tagging was performed in all patients for assessment of wall motion abnormalities. Each MR examination was interpreted with two radiologists for chamber dimensions and ventricular dysfunction as well as morphologic characteristics with disagreement resolved by consensus. All patients included in the study were taken up for MR evaluation after cardiological evaluation through echocardiography and the results for both the studies were compared. Data were analyzed through standard statistical methods. Conclusion CMR is a comprehensive diagnostic tool, which can estimate the ventricular function more precisely than echocardiography. CMR reliably differentiates between ischemic and nonischemic etiologies of DCM based on patterns of late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) and based on the presence or absence of LGE, which helps to estimate the degree of myocardial fibrosis. Thereby it can be a useful tool in establishing risk stratification, predicting prognosis, and thus instituting appropriate therapy in DCM patients.

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