High signal intensity on T2-weighted cardiac magnetic resonance imaging correlates with the ventricular tachyarrhythmia in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

Late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) with cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) can predict ventricular arrhythmia and poor prognosis in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) patients. Although myocardial T2-high signal has been reported to appear within LGE in those patients, its clinical significance remains unclear. We investigated the relationship between the T2-high signal and nonsustained ventricular tachycardia (NSVT) in HCM patients. Eighty-one HCM patients who underwent Holter ECG and CMR including T2-weighted and LGE imaging were retrospectively recruited. They were divided into NSVT-positive and NSVT-negative groups. We compared the clinical and CMR characteristics between both of the groups, and assessed predictors of NSVT with multivariate analysis. Myocardial T2-high signal was observed in 15/81 (18.5 %) patients. Each T2-high signal was localized within LGE. Significantly in the NSVT-positive group, the prevalence of atrial fibrillation [5/17 (29.4 %) vs. 2/64 (3.1 %), p = 0.0006] and T2-high signal [9/17 (52.9 %) vs. 6/64 (9.4 %), p < 0.0001] and the left ventricular (LV) end-systolic volume index (32.2 ± 15.9 ml/m² vs. 23.3 ± 14.9 ml/m², p = 0.034) and the number of segments with LGE (5.8 ± 3.3 vs. 2.7 ± 2.7, p < 0.0001) was increased, and the LV ejection fraction (54.8 ± 10.9 % vs. 65.1 ± 10.6 %, p = 0.0007) was decreased, compared to the NSVT-negative group. On multivariate analysis, the presence of atrial fibrillation (OR 29.49, p = 0.0025) and DM (OR 7.36, p = 0.0455) and T2-high signal (OR 14.96, p = 0.0014) and reduced LV ejection fraction (OR 0.93, p = 0.0222) were significantly associated with NSVT. The presence of myocardial T2-high signal is a significant independent predictor of NSVT in HCM patients.