Heart MRI Scans to Study Heart Muscle Changes Over Time
Uses repeated heart MRI scans in adults with heart attack or thickened heart muscle.
Plain-language title generated from the registry record
Registry title: Diffusion MRI in Heart Failure
Key facts
- Where
- Charlestown, United StatesSee the site
- Phase
- Early phase 1
Could this be for you?
Answer for yourself. This is not a decision: only the study team can say whether you can take part.
- Are you between 18 and 85 years old?
Source: NCT02973633, who can take part
Where in United States
- Massachusetts General HospitalCharlestown, United StatesTaking people
Questions to ask the study team
- How often do I need to come in, and for how long each time?
- Are travel costs paid?
- Can I keep my own doctor?
- What happens if I want to stop?
Trial details
- Who runs it
- Massachusetts General Hospital
- Trial code
- NCT02973633
- Record updated
- 24 December 2025
- Original description
The development of symptomatic heart failure is frequently preceded by a pre-clinical period of structural remodeling in the heart. The remodeling process driving this transition, however, remains poorly understood. The investigators hypothesize that imaging the diffusion of water in the heart with MRI will allow its microstructure to be resolved. The investigators further hypothesize that the characterization of microstructural changes in the heart will help elucidate the pathogenesis of heart failure and the transition from a compensated to a decompensated state. Patients with recent myocardial infarcts and left ventricular hypertrophy, who are at risk for the development of heart failure, will be enrolled. The participants will undergo serial diffusion tensor MRI (DTI) imaging of the heart to characterize changes in myocardial microstructure over time.Read full original descriptionShow less
Diffusion MRI in Heart Failure
The development of symptomatic heart failure is frequently preceded by a pre-clinical period of structural remodeling in the heart. The remodeling process driving this transition, however, remains poorly understood. The investigators hypothesize that imaging the diffusion of water in the heart with MRI will allow its microstructure to be resolved. The investigators further hypothesize that the characterization of microstructural changes in the heart will help elucidate the pathogenesis of heart failure and the transition from a compensated to a decompensated state. Patients with recent myocardial infarcts and left ventricular hypertrophy, who are at risk for the development of heart failure, will be enrolled. The participants will undergo serial diffusion tensor MRI (DTI) imaging of the heart to characterize changes in myocardial microstructure over time.
Inclusion: Healthy adults with no history of hypertension, diabetes or heart disease; Patients with ST Elevation MI within last 6-10 weeks who are angina free, and have been seen by a cardiologist since discharge; Patients with episode of heart failure within last 12 months and left ventricular hypertrophy, documented by echocardiogram or MRI.
Exclusion: Selected medical devices and implants; Recent surgery (within the last 3 months); Prior stroke with large residual deficit; Known untreated ventricular arrhythmia such as sustained ventricular tachycardia within last 12 months; Atrial fibrillation that is not well rate controlled (heart rate >125); Unstable angina within last 2 months that has not been fully evaluated by a cardiologist; Decompensated heart failure (inability to lie flat and perform a breath-hold); Presence of liver or respiratory failure; Known seizure disorder; Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) < 60 for those receiving gadolinium; Labile GFR that is not stable/similar on last 2 measurements (for those receiving gadolinium); Patients with GFR < 20 or on any form of dialysis; Presence of metallic foreign bodies/objects; Pacemakers, implantable defibrillators, life vests; Coronary artery stent within last 6 weeks (unless the stent is a MRI-inert chromium-cobalt stent); Syncope within last 6 weeks; Hemodynamic instability (Systolic BP less than 100 or greater than 180); Infiltrative cardiomyopathy (amyloid, sarcoid, hemachromatosis); Pregnancy and nursing mothers; Claustrophobia.