Background: Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in India. Stress Cardiac Magnetic Resonance (CMR) using vasodilator agent is well established in assessing the functional significance of CAD. Adenosine is the preferred agent, but can have severe side effects including dyspnoea, chest pain, atrioventricular block or bronchospasm. The stress CMR examination is not routinely performed in many of the clinical imaging departments in India. Objective: The aim of this study was to establish safety of adenosine as a pharmacological stressor agent for CMR in a tertiary care radiology department in India. Methods: A review of all patients undergoing stress CMR in our institution from May 2018 to May 2019 was made. Records were reviewed to collect response parameters and documented adverse reactions. Results: A total of 1057 patients underwent stress CMR during this period. No death, myocardial infarction or atrio-ventricular block related complications were seen. Transient hypotension was seen in 20 patients (1.8') with spontaneous recovery after stopping infusion. Chest pain and breathlessness severe enough to discontinue the scan were seen in 6 (0.5') and 10 (0.9') patients, respectively. All patients with breathlessness recovered on low flow oxygen therapy with three requiring bronchodilator. Out of six patients with chest pain, three had immediate relief with sublingual nitroglycerin, and three required hospital admission for unstable angina. Of the latter three, 1 underwent revascularization on the same day and other two later in the week. Conclusion: Stress CMR using adenosine in appropriately selected patients is a highly safe procedure with significant side effects seen in less than 1’ of patients. Therefore, it is safe to perform stress CMR studies in a fully equipped and well-trained radiology department in India.

Myocardial fibrosis is associated with adverse events in idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy. Cardiac MRI with late gadolinium enhancement can detect myocardial fibrosis. We evaluated the conditional survival of children and adolescents based on native T1 mapping (combined proton signal from myocytes and interstitium prior to contrast administration by the measurement of myocardial and blood relaxation time) as a means to assess myocardial fibrosis. This retrospective case–cohort over a 3-year period included all consecutive patients (aged ≤ 21 years) with advanced heart failure from dilated cardiomyopathy (echocardiographic left ventricular ejection fraction ≤ 45% and NYHA class ≥ 2) who underwent cardiac MRI. Conditional survival (follow-up ≥ 6 months after cardiac MRI) was assessed to include NYHA functional class and time to event (death or heart transplantation). A total of 57 patients (mean age 11.7 ± 6.1 years; 58% male) had a median NYHA Class III (31/57) and median left ventricular ejection fraction 25% (20–38%). Survival data were available in 82% patients (46/57) and the crude mortality rate was 24% (11/46) and one patient (2%) underwent heart transplantation. The median native T1 was elevated at 1351 ms (95% CI 1332, 1394) and it showed no difference between the groups who survived to those who died. Performing a multilevel regression analysis on prognosis failed to predict 6-month conditional survival.

Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD) is an X-linked recessive disorder involving mutation of the dystrophin gene. Cardiac involvement in BMD is frequent and represents the foremost cause of mortality. Two male siblings with severe left ventricular (LV) dysfunction and presence of deletion in the dystrophin gene underwent cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging, which revealed typical but varying imaging findings. The CMR revealed dilated left ventricle with severe global hypokinesis with preserved right ventricular (RV) function. Few patchy areas of septal edema were seen with typical epicardial enhancement along the LV lateral wall and the RV side of septum in one sibling. Both the siblings revealed an elevated myocardial native T1 values. CMR has the potential to detect cardiac involvement early by identifying and quantifying fibrosis, before wall motion abnormalities set in and determine prognosis in patients with muscular dystrophy and BMD carriers.

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