Evaluation the relationship between myocardial fibrosis and left ventricular torsion measured by cardiac magnetic resonance feature-tracking in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy patients with preserved ejection fraction

The relationship between left ventricular (LV) torsion and myocardial fibrosis (MF) in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) patients with preserved ejection fraction was still not well understood. New developments in cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) enable a much fuller assessment of cardiac characteristics. This study sought to assess the impact of HCM on myocardial function as assessed by LV torsion and its relationship with MF. HCM (n = 79) and healthy controls (n = 40) underwent CMR. According to whether there was late gadolinium enhancement (LGE), patients were divided into LGE⁺ group and LGE⁻ group. LV torsion and torsion rate were measured by CMR feature-tracking (CMR-FT). MF was quantitatively evaluated through LGE imaging. LGE was present in 44 patients (56%). Compared with healthy controls, torsion increased in the LGE⁻ group (P < 0.001). Compared with LGE⁺ group, torsion was higher in the LGE⁻ group (P < 0.001). There was no significant difference in torsion between LGE⁺ group and healthy controls. Correlation analysis showed that torsion was correlated with LGE% (r = − 0.443) and LGE mass (r = − 0.435) respectively. On multivariable logistic regression analysis, LV torsion was the only feature that was independently associated with the presence of LGE (OR 0.130; 95% CI 0.040 to 0.420, P = 0.01). The best torsion value associated with MF was 1.91 (sensitivity 60.0%, specificity 77.3%, AUC = 0.733). In HCM patients with preserved ejection fraction, CMR-FT derived LV torsion analysis holds promise for myocardial fibrosis detection.