Native Magnetic Resonance T1-Mapping Identifies Diffuse Myocardial Injury in Hypothyroidism

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 11; no. 3; p. e0151266
• Main Authors: Gao, Xia, Liu, Min, Qu, Aijuan, Chen, Zhe, Jia, Yumei, Yang, Ning, Feng, Xiaomeng, Liu, Jia, Xu, Yuan, Yang, Xinchun, Wang, Guang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 10.03.2016; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Adult; Authorship; Biology and Life Sciences; Blood Pressure; Case-Control Studies; Complications and side effects; Cross-Sectional Studies; Diagnosis; Diagnostic software; Diagnostic systems; Edema; Effusion; Endocrinology; Female; Heart; Heart - diagnostic imaging; Heart diseases; Heart failure; Heart Injuries - complications; Heart Injuries - diagnostic imaging; Hormones; Hospitals; Humans; Hypertension; Hypothyroidism; Hypothyroidism - complications; Hypothyroidism - diagnostic imaging; Injuries; Lesions; Magnetic resonance; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Mapping; Medical prognosis; Medicine and Health Sciences; Middle Aged; Myocardial diseases; Myocardium; NMR; Nuclear magnetic resonance; Patients; Pericardial Effusion - complications; Pericardial Effusion - diagnostic imaging; Physical Sciences; Relaxation time; Resonance; Risk factors; Rodents; Stroke; Stroke Volume; Thyroid; Thyroid gland; Thyroid hormones; Thyrotropin - blood; Thyroxine - blood; Triiodothyronine; Triiodothyronine - blood; Ventricular Function, Left - physiology; China; Beijing China
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0151266

Hypothyroidism (HT) is characterized by thyroid hormone deficiencies, which can lead to diffuse myocardial interstitium lesions in patients with HT. Myocardial longitudinal relaxation time (T1) mapping is a potential diagnostic tool for quantifying diffuse myocardial injury. This study aimed to assess the usefulness of T1 mapping in identifying myocardial involvement in HT, and determine the relationship between T1 values and myocardial function. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 30 untreated HT patients alongside 23 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. All subjects underwent cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) with non-contrast (native) T1 mapping using a modified Look-Locker inversion-recovery (MOLLI) sequence to assess the native T1 values of myocardium and cardiac function. Native myocardial T1 values were significantly increased in HT patients, especially those with pericardial effusion (p < 0.05), compared with healthy controls. In addition, significantly reduced peak filling rate (PFR) and prolonged peak filling time (PFT) were obtained (p < 0.05) in HT patients compared with controls. Furthermore, stroke volume (SV) and cardiac index (CI) were significantly lower in HT patients than controls (all p < 0.05). Interestingly, native T1 values were negatively correlated with free triiodothyronine (FT3), PFR, SV and CI (all p < 0.05). Diffuse myocardial injuries are common in HT patients, and increased T1 values are correlated with FT3 and cardiac function impairment. These findings indicate that T1 mapping might be useful in evaluating myocardial injuries in HT patients.