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Background Cardiovascular magnetic resonance T1 mapping is a non-invasive tool for quantifying tissue alterations in the myocardium. Its prognostic value in non-ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to synthetize available data and explore the prognostic value of T1 mapping in DCM. Methods We searched Pubmed, Embase, Cochrane Library and Scopus for cohort studies up to 28 March 2020 that reported prognostic data for cardiovascular magnetic resonance T1 mapping in patients with DCM. Hazard ratios (HRs) were pooled using random-effects meta-analysis. Values were expressed as standard deviation (SD) of normal controls. Heterogeneity was assessed with the I2 statistic. Results Eight studies were included in the meta-analysis, with a total of 1242 patients. Extracellular volume fraction (ECV) had high prognostic value for a composite outcome of mortality and morbidity with HR 1.38 (95% confidence interval, 1.18–1.61). Native T1 was also shown to have high prognostic value for a composite outcome of mortality and morbidity with HR 1.20 (95% confidence interval, 1.14–1.27). Heterogeneity was moderate for the ECV analysis (I2 = 64%). Conclusions ECV and native T1 could potentially be used to improve risk stratification in DCM. Future studies should investigate the prognostic value of T1 mapping by separating mortality and morbidity as primary outcomes and evaluate its incremental value in addition to standard risk stratification criteria.

A cross-sectional study to investigate the morphological and functional changes of the visual pathway taking place in patients with migraine.Fifteen patients (14 female, 1 male) diagnosed with migraine with aura and 23 patients (21 female, 2 male) diagnosed with migraine without aura were compared with 20 healthy volunteers (18 female, 2 male). All the participants underwent optical coherence tomography scan, electroretinogram (ERG), visual evoked potentials, and multifocal electroretinogram (mf-ERG) recording.Assessing ERG recordings, no significant differences in mean N1-P1 amplitudes were measured among the groups. The mean visual evoked potentials N80-P100 amplitudes were not significantly different among the three groups (one way analysis of variance: P = 0.075, F = 2.718). No significant difference was found in P100 latency times among groups. The mean retinal response density of mf-ERG in ring 1 was higher in healthy individuals compared with migraineurs, with statistical significance (Kruskal-Wallis analysis of variance and Dunn multiple comparisons test; P0.001, mean rank difference = -24.857 and P0.001, mean rank difference = -20.9, for migraine with aura-control and migraine without aura-control comparisons, respectively). In migraine with aura subjects, retinal nerve fiber layer thickness in superior and inferior quadrants was significantly decreased compared with healthy individuals, whereas in migraine without aura group, only the superior quadrant was significantly thinner compared with the control group.Retinal response density in mfERG of all migraineurs was significantly lessened compared with healthy individuals. There was no significant difference in visual evoked potentials N80-P100 amplitudes or P100 latencies among the groups. Moreover, retinal nerve fiber layer thinning observed in patients with migraine compared with control subjects, appeared statistically significant in some quadrants. The authors may be able to defend the retinal blood flow decrease theory in migraine. The results also indicate that several levels of the visual pathway seem to be affected in migraineurs.

We present the case of a 37-year-old man who was diagnosed with an Epstein-Barr futile myocarditis. The diagnosis was made in the Accident and Emergency Department, with the input of portable echocardiography. The patient subsequently underwent an urgent orthotopic heart transplantation and he has now completely recovered.