Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) – a fatal X-linked genetic disorder – is characterized by progressive muscle weakness, pediatric onset cardiomyopathy, and ultimately heart failure. LGE imaging is the gold standard for detecting myocardial replacement fibrosis, but not fatty infiltration. We used chemical-shift based water-fat separation MRI techniques to investigate myocardial fibro-fatty infiltration and identify the onset of microstructural remodeling in boys with DMD. This study aimed to: 1) report and compare the left-ventricular (LV) intra-myocardial fat content in boys with DMD and healthy controls; and 2) determine whether fatty infiltration precedes the appearance of LGE in boys with DMD.
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