REVIEW Investigation of cardiomyopathy using cardiac magnetic resonance imaging part 1: Common phenotypes Shaunagh McDermott, Ailbhe C O’Neill, Carole A Ridge, Jonathan D Dodd Shaunagh McDermott, Ailbhe C O’Neill, Carole A Ridge, Jonathan D Dodd, Cardiac CT and MRI Program, St. Vincent’ s University Hospital, Elm Park, Dublin 4, Ireland Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to the paper. Correspondence to: Jonathan D Dodd, Professor, Consul- tant Radiologist and Associate Professor, Cardiac CT and MRI Program, St. Vincent’s University Hospital, Elm Park, Dublin 4, Ireland. j.dodd@st-vincents.ie Telephone: +353-87-2987313 Fax: +353-1-2694533 Received: January 29, 2012 Revised: March 26, 2012 Accepted: April 2, 2012 Published online: April 26, 2012 Abstract Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMRI) has emerged as a useful tertiary imaging tool in the inves- tigation of patients suspected of many different types of cardiomyopathies. CMRI sequences are now of a sufficiently robust quality to enable high spatial and temporal resolution image acquisition. This has led to CMRI becoming an effective non-invasive imaging gold standard for many cardiomyopathies. In this 2-part re- view, we outline the typical sequences used to image cardiomyopathy, and present the imaging spectrum of cardiomyopathy. Part 1 focuses on the current classii- cation of cardiomyopathy, basic CMRI sequences used in evaluating cardiomyopathy and the imaging spec- trum of common phenotypes. © 2012 Baishideng. All rights reserved. Key words: Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging; Car- diomyopathies Peer reviewers: Jalal K Ghali, MD, Chief of Cardiology, Detroit Receiving Hospital, Director, Heart Failure Program Medical Director, Cardiovascular, Clinical Trials Program, DMC Cardiovascular Institute, Professor of Medicine, Wayne State University, 3990 John R, 9 Webber Suite 9370, Detroit, MI 48201, United States; Antigone Lazou, Professor of Physiology, Lab of Animal Physiology, Sch of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece; Dr. Steven J Haas, National Coroners Information System, Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine, 57-83 Kavanagh Street, Southbank 3006, Australia McDermott S, O’Neill AC, Ridge CA, Dodd JD. Investigation of cardiomyopathy using cardiac magnetic resonance imaging part 1: Common phenotypes. World J Cardiol 2012; 4(4): 103-111 Available from: URL: http://www.wjgnet.com/1949-8462/full/ v4/i4/103.htm DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4330/wjc.v4.i4.103 INTRODUCTION A cardiomyopathy has been described as a myocardial disorder in which the heart muscle is structurally and functionally abnormal, in the absence of coronary artery disease, hypertension, valvular disease and congenital heart disease suficient to cause the observed myocardial abnormality, with the exception of ischemic cardiomy- opathy (Table 1) [1] . Cardiomyopathy follows myocardial infarction as the commonest cause of sudden cardiac death [2] . Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMRI) has emerged as a useful non-invasive imaging modality capa- ble of producing high-resolution images of the heart in any desired image plane and without ionizing radiation. As a result, it has become a primary imaging modality for many cardiomyopathies [3,4] . There are many different sequences that can be performed in various combina- tions, although a basic generic set of sequences is com- mon to most protocols [5] . CLASSIFICATION OF CARDIOMYOPATHY A recent statement from the European Society of Cardi- ology working group on myocardial and pericardial dis- eases [1] has grouped cardiomyopathies into speciic mor- 103 April 26, 2012|Volume 4|Issue 4| WJC|www.wjgnet.com Online Submissions: http://www.wjgnet.com/1949-8462ofice wjc@wjgnet.com doi:10.4330/wjc.v4.i4.103 World J Cardiol 2012 April 26; 4(4): 103-111 ISSN 1949-8462 (online) © 2012 Baishideng. All rights reserved. World Journal of Cardiology WJC