Prognostic significance of electrocardiogram and cine magnetic resonance imaging parameters in patients with idopathic dilated cardiomyopathy

Patients with idopathic dilated cardimyopathy (IDC) and reduced left ventricular function have a limited prognosis. Aim of this study was the evaluation of parameters of cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMRI) and ECG for prognosis. 149 patients with IDC were studied by CMRI for hemodynamic and late enhancement (LE) analysis and followed for a mean of 986 plusmn 588 days. QRS and QTc intervals were measured. In total we recorded 16 parameters including NYHA status, age and diabetes mellitus. Combined endpoint was cardiac death, sudden death (SCD) or rehospitalization for pump failure. We used a bootstrap approach over the cases combined with a stepwise parameter selection method to find the most relevant variables in a Cox proportional hazard model. We found that 3 parameters, namely QRS duration > 110 ms, left ventricular enddiastolic volume index, and left ventricular cardiac index were most predictive.