Distribution patterns of Gd-DTPA-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging after intravenous tissue plasminogen activator therapy for acute myocardial infarction

In patients who received thrombolytic therapy for acute myocardial infarction (AMI), we observed 3 distinct patterns in gadolinium diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (Gd-DTPA)-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. To clarify the significance of these distribution patterns of Gd-DTPA, 20 consecutive patients underwent Gd-DTPA-enhanced MR imaging 7-10 days after AMI. All of the patients received intravenous recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (IVTPA) within 6 h of onset. Echocardiograms were obtained prior to and serially over 10 days, and interpreted for regional wall motion. Coronary angiograms were obtained the day before discharge. None of the 6 patients with a closed infarct-related artery, and 9 of the 14 patients with an open artery, demonstrated subendocardial enhancement (p<0.05). All of these latter 9 patients demonstrated a significant improvement in wall motion between days 1 and 10 after AMI. In contrast, only 1 of the 7 patients with transmural enhancement and none of the 4 patients with non-homogeneous enhancement demonstrated improvement of wall motion on day 10 (p<0.05). We concluded that subendocardial enhancement was a fair prognostic sign for restoration of regional cardiac function in patients who received IVTPA during AMI. (author)