Diagnostic Accuracy of Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Tomography (CMR) for Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction (HFpEF)

Heart failure with preserved pump function is a common disease that is associated with a high level of suffering for the patient. The diagnosis has so far been made primarily according to criteria determined by echocardiography, or invasively by measuring the left ventricular filling pressures.

With its high spatial resolution and the possibility of tissue-specific diagnostics, cardiac MRI (CMR) offers outstanding possibilities in cardiac imaging without exposing the patient to ionizing radiation. Increasingly, CMR is also evaluated with regard to the diagnosis of cardiac insufficiency with preserved pump function. However, it is still unclear which parameters can be used meaningfully for diagnostics. There is evidence for a correlation with invasively increased LVEDP, although the number of patients examined in the previous studies was still small. In addition, possible influences from medication and clinical parameters were not examined.

To answer this question, the investigators want to retrospectively evaluate data collected from patients with a clinical indication. The significance of the study is that in the future CMR could supplement echocardiography in the diagnosis of HFpEF and further reduce the need for invasive diagnostics.