Extracellular volume fraction is associated with B-type natriuretic peptide in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

Background Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a common cardiovascular genetic disease characterized by sarcomeric gene mutations which lead to findings of cardiac hypertrophy, myocyte disarray, and fibrosis. While late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) detects focal, macroscopic regions of replacement fibrosis non-invasively, novel T1 CMR measurement techniques including extracellular volume fraction (ECV) diffuse interstitial fibrosis throughout the myocardium. Plasma B-type natriuretic peptide levels are often elevated in situations of increased wall tension and volume overload. Given that such states may be associated with myocardial fibrosis, and because BNP levels provide independent prognostic insight in HCM, we sought to determine the association between BNP and ECV measurement by CMR.