Patients with Histologically Abnormal Left Atrial Myocardium Demonstrate Greater Left Atrial Late Gadolinium Enhancement

Jaime L. Shaw¹, Susie N. Hong-Zohlman¹, Robert C. Hagberg¹, Benjamin R. Knowles¹, Warren J. Manning^1,2, Dana C. Peters¹

The use of late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) for detecting pre-existing scar in the LA wall of patients with atrial fibrillation is challenging, due to the widespread appearance of LA wall enhancement in all subjects. This study compares LA wall enhancement in healthy controls vs. patients prior to minimally invasive maze procedure. While the enhancement pattern was generally similar in controls vs. patients, pre-maze patients with abnormal histological findings on their resected left atrial appendage (LAA) tissue had greater LA wall enhancement compared with patients with normal LAA findings. This is a first study correlating per-ablation LGE findings with histological fibrosis/hypertrophy in the LA.