DOI:10.2214/AJR.06.0161
AJR 2007; 188:W423-W427
© American Roentgen Ray Society
Marked Lipomatous Infiltration of the Right Ventricle: MRI Findings in Relation to Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Dysplasia
Robson Macedo1,
Kalpana Prakasa1,
Crystal Tichnell1,
Frank Marcus2,
Hugh Calkins1,
João A. C. Lima1,3 and
David A. Bluemke1,3
1 Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, Johns
Hopkins University School of Medicine, MRI Bldg., Rm. 143, 600 N Wolf St.,
Baltimore, MD, 21287.
2 Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University
School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD.
3 Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, University of Arizona,
Phoenix, AZ.
Received January 30, 2006;
accepted after revision May 16, 2006.
Address correspondence to D. A. Bluemke
(dbluemke{at}jhmi.edu).
WEB This is a Web exclusive article.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this study was to describe the structure
and function of the heart in the presence of marked lipomatous infiltration of
the right ventricular wall in 13 patients referred for second opinions about
fatty infiltration of the right ventricular wall and suspected arrhythmogenic
right ventricular dysplasia.
CONCLUSION. Lipomatous infiltration with right ventricular thickness
6 mm on MRI but without regional or global functional abnormalities of
the right ventricle appears to be distinct from fatty right ventricle
associated with arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia. The finding of
right ventricular fat must be interpreted cautiously to avoid the
pharmacologic and defibrillator intervention associated with management of
arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia.
Keywords: cardiac imaging heart MRI right ventricle
Introduction
Fatty replacement of the myocardium is a peculiar condition that has
been reported to occur primarily in the right side of the heart. Fontaine et
al. [1] reported that fat is
normally well demarcated from underlying muscle in the right ventricular (RV)
free wall and around epicardial coronary vessels but is not present in the
left ventricle in healthy persons. Fat, however, can be interspersed with RV
myocardial fibers without accompanying fibrosis or signs of inflammation
[1,
2].
Arrhythmogenic RV dysplasia (ARVD) is a condition in which the RV free wall
is partially or almost entirely replaced by fatty or fibrofatty tissue.
Residual myocardium with degenerative changes is interspersed among adipocytes
and fibrous tissue, providing a substrate for life-threatening ventricular
arrhythmia, which can result in sudden death
[3]. ARVD is clinically
characterized by ECG abnormalities of conduction, repolarization, and
depolarization; ventricular arrhythmia; family history of sudden cardiac
death; and structural and functional abnormalities of the right ventricle
[4-6].
Fatty infiltration of the RV can occur without fibrosis, but its relation to
ARVD is not understood.
The use of MRI in the diagnosis of ARVD is well established
[7-9],
but reliance on fat signal intensity in the MRI diagnosis of ARVD has met only
variable success [7,
10,
11]. The purpose of this study
was to report MRI findings on patients with fatty replacement of the right
ventricle whose conditions did not meet the criteria for ARVD established by
the World Health Organization/International Society and Federation of
Cardiology Task Force on the Definition and Classification of Cardiomyopathies
[4].
Materials and Methods
Patient Population
All patients were retrospectively selected from the Johns Hopkins Hospital
database of referrals for ARVD. Patients were originally referred because they
had nonsustained ventricular tachycardia. They were evaluated by a senior
clinical electrophysiologist experienced in evaluating ARVD. The evaluation
included the relevant medical history, including history of arrhythmia or
sudden death in the family. From the records entered into the database for the
years 2003 through 2005, we selected cases in which T1-weighted MR images
showed high signal intensity corresponding to fat in the RV wall and in which
task force criteria for ARVD
[5] were not met owing to
normal physical examination findings and normal findings on resting and
exercise ECG, signal-averaged ECG, echocardiography, or electrophysiologic
studies. For the purposes of this study, MRI findings were excluded from
consideration for evaluation of task force criteria. A total of 13 cases that
matched the criteria were selected. The findings for patients meeting the
selection criteria were compared with those for 20 healthy subjects (10 men
and 10 women) free of clinical cardiovascular disease. Institutional review
board approval was obtained.
MRI Protocol
All MRI data were obtained with 1.5-T systems (10 Signa Cvi, GE Healthcare;
one Avanto, Siemens Medical Solutions; one Intera, Philips Medical Systems).
The protocols included breath-hold retrospective ECG-gated 2D black blood
images of the heart for the diagnosis of RV wall signal abnormality and for
determination of RV wall thickness. The images were acquired in the transaxial
or short-axis plane or both planes with double inversion recovery turbo fast
spin-echo, spin-echo T1-weighted, or proton density-weighted technique with 5-
to 8-mm slice thickness and 2- to 4-mm interslice gap. Fat-suppressed images
were obtained to confirm the presence of fat in the RV wall by use of either
chemical shift fat suppression or inversion recovery technique. Breath-hold
retrospective ECG-gated 2D bright blood cine images with 6- to 8-mm slice
thickness and 2- to 4-mm interslice gap were obtained in the transaxial and
short axis planes with steady-state free precession technique (true fast
imaging with steady-state free precession on the Avanto from Siemens Medical
Solutions system, fast imaging with steady-state acquisition on the Signa Cvi
from GE Healthcare systems, and balanced fast-field echo on the Intera from
Philips Medical Systems). Surface coils were used for signal reception in all
cases.

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Fig. 1A 30-year-old man in normal health. Axial proton density-weighted fast
spin-echo MR image without fat saturation shows intermediate signal intensity
of normal right ventricular wall (arrows) in relation to high signal
intensity of adjacent fat.
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Fig. 1B 30-year-old man in normal health. Axial proton density-weighted fast
spin-echo MR image with fat saturation shows normal right ventricular wall
with well-defined epicardial border (arrows).
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Image Evaluation
On T1-weighted and proton density-weighted black blood MR images, normal
myocardium has intermediate signal intensity similar to that of skeletal
muscle, and fat has high signal intensity. There is often a clear line of
demarcation between the intermediate signal intensity of RV myocardium and the
high signal intensity of epicardial fat (Fig.
1A,
1B). High signal intensity
replacing the intermediate RV signal intensity indicates infiltration of
epicardial fat into the RV wall
[10]. The presence of fat was
confirmed with chemically selective MR pulses based on the resonance frequency
of lipid. RV fat was described as present or absent in the RV outflow tract,
basal free wall, middle free wall, apical free wall, and inferior wall. Images
were independently evaluated by two blinded reviewers. The reviewers were
allowed to adjust window width and level on the workstation (Efilm 2.0, Merge)
to optimize visualization of the right ventricle. In cases of reviewer
discrepancy, a third reviewer provided the final adjudication for descriptive
purposes.
RV free wall thickness, volume, and function were measured with MASS
software (version 6.1, Medis) with manual contouring. RV free wall thickness
was determined on ECG-gated black blood axial images of the myocardium
acquired during diastole. RV wall thickness was measured from epicardium to
endocardium, excluding the RV epicardial fat. Fat external to the pericardium
also was excluded. RV volume was determined by manually contouring the
endocardium on each slice, summing the slices, and multiplying by slice
thickness (Simpson rule) and interslice gap. The moderator band was included
as part of the RV volume. RV global and regional end-diastolic volume and
ejection fraction were calculated by use of a summation-of-disks method
(Simpson rule) with integration over image slices containing the right
ventricle.
Global and regional peak filling rate (a measure of diastolic function
[12]) and peak ejection rate
were determined as previously described
[13,
14]. RV and left ventricular
wall motion was subjectively evaluated as normal, hypokinetic, akinetic, or
dyskinetic for basal, middle cavity, and apical slices.
Statistical Analysis
All statistical analyses were performed with Stata 8.0 software (Stata).
Continuous data were expressed as mean ± SD. Proportions for RV wall
signal abnormality were analyzed for the RV outflow tract, basal, middle,
apical, and inferior regions. The mean values and SD in the patient and
control groups were obtained for RV end-diastolic diameter, RV wall thickness,
RV global and regional end-diastolic volumes, RV global and regional ejection
fractions, and RV global and regional peak ejection and peak filling rates.
The Wilcoxon's rank sum (Mann-Whitney) test was used for comparing two
unmatched samples (patient group and control group). Interobserver variability
for the diagnosis of intramyocardial fat in the RV wall was analyzed with the
kappa statistic.
Results
Patient Population
The patient group included four men and nine women. The mean age of the
patients selected was 56 years. The mean age of the women was 58.7 years and
that of the men was 49.7 years. The body mass index (BMI, derived by dividing
weight in kilograms by height squared in meters) of the patient group as a
whole was 27.9 ± 5.34. The BMI of the women was 25.6 ± 3.2 and
that of the men was 31.5 ± 8.9.
Intramyocardial Fat
Fat signal intensity was visualized in the RV outflow tract of 10, basal
free ventricular wall of 12, middle free ventricular wall of 11, apical free
ventricular wall of 11, and inferior ventricular wall of eight patients. The
most commonly affected RV region in women was the basal wall, which was
affected in all nine women. The RV outflow tract and basal walls were equally
affected in the four men. Seven patients had RV free wall transmural
infiltration and replacement extending from the epicardial to the endocardial
surface. There was good correlation between observers for the diagnosis of
intramyocardial fat in the wall of the RV outflow tract (
=1.0,
p < 0.01), basal wall (
=1.0, p < 0.01), middle
wall (
=1.0, p < 0.01), apical wall (
=0.8,
p < 0.01), and inferior wall (
=1.0, p <
0.01).
RV Morphologic Parameters
There was no difference between the RV end-diastolic diameter of the
patient group and that of the control group
(Table 1). Fat infiltration of
the RV wall was associated with increased RV wall thickness in all 13 patients
compared with the healthy subjects. The thickness of the RV anterior wall
ranged from 6 to 13 mm (mean, 9 ± 2.5 mm) in the patient group and from
2 to 5 mm in the control group (mean, 4.1 ± 1.1) (p <
0.001) (Table 1). No RV
aneurysms were identified in the patient group.
RV Function and Volume Parameters
There were no differences between the global and regional RV ejection
fractions and global and regional RV end-diastolic volumes of the patient
group and those of the control group (p > 0.05 for all parameters)
[15]
(Table 1), and there were no
differences between the global and regional RV peak ejection rates and peak
filling rates (p > 0.05 for all parameters)
(Table 1). No left ventricular
or RV wall motion abnormalities were identified in the patient group,
including in the area of the right ventricle in which MRI showed high signal
intensity correlating with fat tissue.
Discussion
We used MRI in the evaluation of a group of patients with suspected ARVD
with marked diffuse lipomatous infiltration of the right ventricle, which has
not to our knowledge been previously described. These patients were unique in
that the marked fatty infiltration of the right ventricle caused the
ventricular wall to appear thickened (Figs.
2A,
2B and
3A,
3B,
3C). Despite RV fat
infiltration, on cine MR images, global and regional wall motion in the
patient group was not distinguishable from that in a group of healthy
volunteers. At careful clinical evaluation by an experienced
electrophysiologist, none of these patients had findings that met ARVD task
force criteria, which were assessed independently of MRI findings.

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Fig. 2A 45-year-old woman with history of nonsustained ventricular
tachycardia. Axial proton density-weighted fast spin-echo MR image without fat
saturation shows fat replacement of entire right ventricular (RV) wall
(arrows), which appears thickened.
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Fig. 2B 45-year-old woman with history of nonsustained ventricular
tachycardia. Axial proton density-weighted fast spin-echo MR image with fat
saturation shows suppression of fatty component of RV wall. Thin portion of
nonfatty RV wall (arrows) is evident.
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Fig. 3A 48-year-old woman with history of palpitations and nonsustained
ventricular tachycardia. Axial T1-weighted fast spin-echo MR image without fat
saturation shows fat replacement of entire right ventricular wall
(arrows), which appears thickened.
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Fig. 3B 48-year-old woman with history of palpitations and nonsustained
ventricular tachycardia. Bright blood four-chamber MR images of heart in
diastole (B) and systole (C) show normal biventricular cardiac
function.
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Fig. 3C 48-year-old woman with history of palpitations and nonsustained
ventricular tachycardia. Bright blood four-chamber MR images of heart in
diastole (B) and systole (C) show normal biventricular cardiac
function.
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Since the original MRI descriptions of ARVD
[16-20],
physicians have tended to equate fatty infiltration of the right ventricle
detected with MRI to the diagnosis ARVD. Molinari et al.
[21] found that myocardial
adipose replacement can be a source of RV arrhythmia.
Fat detection with MRI was not part of the original ARVD task force
criteria because the influence of MRI technology and specificity in diagnosis
were not known [5]. In a study
conducted with conventional spin-echo MRI, healthy subjects and patients with
definite ARVD could not be differentiated on the basis of fatty infiltration
of the right ventricle [7]. We
used more sophisticated fast spin-echo pulse sequences to address the issue of
RV fat. Abundant replacement of the RV free wall by fat was readily detected
with MRI and was not associated with other morphologic or functional
abnormalities of the right ventricle.
A definitive pathologic description for the patients in this study was not
available because these patients did not qualify for RV biopsy on the basis of
clinical or imaging findings. Patients in this series had abundant fat
replacing the RV free wall with characteristic hypertrophy of the RV wall due
to the presence of fat (Figs.
2A,
2B and
3A,
3B,
3C). There have been several
histopathologic descriptions of RV fat, although none of them are entirely
consistent with our observations. The fat dissociation syndrome proposed by
Fontaine et al. [1] consists of
diffuse fat interspersed with RV myocardial fibers but without fibrosis or
inflammation. Fontaine et al. described this condition as common in more than
one half of the 140 hearts they examined after necropsy. A second pattern of
RV fat, described by Tansey et al.
[22] as a normal variant,
consists of minimal fat interspersed with normal myocytes in healthy elderly
patients without cardiomyopathy. Burke et al.
[2] reported fatty infiltration
of the right ventricle in normal hearts, primarily in the anteroapical region,
indicating that as much as 15% fat at the apex was of little clinical
significance. In our study, however, fat was detected primarily at the base
and middle wall of the right ventricle.
The cause of abundance of RV fat is unknown. One possibility is that it is
associated with obesity. On average, the patient group was obese with a mean
BMI of 28. This BMI is nearly equal to the mean BMI found in a
population-based study in the United States
[23,
24]. The BMI of the control
group was not available. Further population-based studies are needed to define
any association between fatty right ventricle and obesity. Other causes may
include viral injury and genetic predisposition.
An important limitation of this study was the small number of subjects. We
believe this small number may reflect the rarity of the condition; the true
population prevalence is unknown. Our study subjects were referred to us by
cardiologists because they had nonspecific symptoms, such as nonsustained
ventricular tachycardia. Although these patients do not appear to be at the
same risk of sudden death as ARVD patients, the long-term consequences of RV
infiltration by fat needs further longitudinal evaluation. It has been
suggested [22] that fatty
infiltration without fibrosis and myocyte degeneration has low arrhythmogenic
potential.
Lipomatous infiltration of the right ventricle without global or regional
functional abnormalities appears to be a distinct MRI-defined disorder that
should be differentiated from ARVD. Thus strict adoption of the World Health
Organization/International Society and Federation of Cardiology Task Force on
the Definition and Classification of Cardiomyopathies criteria for ARVD is
needed to avoid unnecessary pharmacologic and implantable
cardioverter-defibrillator intervention in patients with isolated fatty
infiltration of the right ventricle.
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