Papillary muscle involvement during acute myocardial infarction: detection by cardiovascular magnetic resonance using T1 mapping technique and papillary longitudinal strain

Papillary muscle (PPM) involvement in myocardial infarction (MI) increases the risk of secondary mitral valve regurgitation or PPM rupture and may be diagnosed using late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) imaging. The native T1-mapping (nT1) technique and PPM longitudinal strain (PPM-ls) have been used to identify PPM infarction (iPPM) without the use of the contrast agent. This study aimed to assess the diagnostic performance of nT1 and PPM-ls in the identification of iPPM. Forty-six patients, who performed CMR within 14-30 days after MI, were retrospectively enrolled: sixteen showed signs of iPPM on LGE images. nT1 values were measured within the infarcted area (IA), remote myocardium (RM), blood pool (BP), and anterolateral and posteromedial PPMs and compared using ANOVA. PPM-ls values have been assessed on cineMR images as the percentage of shortening between end-diastolic and end-systolic phases. Higher nT1 values and lower PPM-ls were found in infarcted compared to non-infarcted PPMs (nT1: 1219.3 +/- 102.5 ms vs. 1052.2 +/- 80.5 ms and 17.6 +/- 6.3% vs. 21.6 +/- 4.3%; p-value < 0.001 for both), with no significant differences between the nT1 of infarcted PPMs and IA and between the non-infarcted PPMs and RM. ROC analysis demonstrated an excellent discriminatory power for nT1 in detecting the iPPM (AUC = 0.874; 95% CI: 0.784-0.963; p < 0.001). nT1 and PPM-ls are valid tools in assessing iPPM with the advantage of avoiding contrast media administration.