Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and fibrosis: correlation between late gadolinium enhancement on CMR and speckle tracking imaging using Ultrasound

Background Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is the most frequent genetic cardiovascular disorder and represents one of the most common cause of heart related sudden death in young adults. Myocardial fibrosis seems to be an independant predictor of adverse events including sudden death, ventricular arrhythmias and heart failure. While late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) on Cardiac Magnetic Resonance (CMR) is actually the gold-standard to detect fibrosis, new techniques are being evaluated such as 2D strain echocardiography.