Background: The objective was to compare the value of late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) and end-diastolic wall thickness (EDWT) assessed by cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) in predicting recovery of left ventricular function after coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG).
Methods: We enrolled patients with coronary artery disease and left ventricular ejection fraction < 45% who were scheduled for CABG. Regional contractility was assessed by cine CMR at baseline and 4 months after CABG. EDWT and LGE were assessed at baseline. Predictors for improvement of regional contractility were analyzed.
Results: We studied 46 men and 4 women with an average age of 61 years. Baseline left ventricular ejection fraction was 37 +/- 13%. A total of 2,020 myocardial segments were analyzed. Abnormal wall motion and the LGE area were detected in 1,446 segments (71.6%) and 1,196 segments (59.2%) respectively. Wall motion improvement was demonstrated in 481 of 1,227 segments (39.2%) that initially had wall motion abnormalities at baseline. Logistic regression analysis showed that the LGE area, EDWT and resting wall motion grade predicted wall motion improvement. Comparison of Receiver-Operator-Characteristic (ROC) curves demonstrated that the LGE area was the most important predictor (p < 0.001). Adding information from LGE to the EDWT can decrease the number of false predictions by EDWT alone from 483 to 127 segments.
Conclusion: LGE and EDWT are independent predictors for functional recovery after revascularization. However, LGE appears to be a more important factor and independent of EDWT.