Objectives:
To assess the prevalence and patterns of cardiac abnormalities as detected by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in systemic sclerosis.

Material and methods:
Twenty-six consecutive patients with systemic sclerosis underwent cardiac MRI to determine morphological, functional, perfusion at rest, and delayed enhancement abnormalities.

Results:
At least one abnormality on cardiac MRI was observed in 19/26 (73%) patients. Increased myocardial signal intensity in T2 was observed in 10 patients (38.5%), thinning of the left ventricular myocardium in 1 patient (3.5%), and pericardial effusion in 12 patients (46%). Left and right ventricular ejection fractions were altered in 10 patients (38.5%) and 11 patients (42%), respectively. Myocardial delayed contrast enhancement was found in 11 (42%) patients. No perfusion defects at rest were found. Patients with limited systemic sclerosis had similar cardiac MRI abnormalities to patients with diffuse systemic sclerosis. Four out of 11 patients (36.4%) without pulmonary arterial hypertension had right ventricular dilatation.

Conclusions:
The present study shows that cardiac MRI is an accurate and reliable technique to diagnose cardiac involvement in systemic sclerosis and to analyze precisely its mechanisms, including inflammatory, microvascular and fibrotic components. As it is non-invasive, quantitative and highly sensitive, cardiac MRI appears to be a method of choice to determine the natural history of untreated patients or to accurately monitor the effects of treatment. Moreover, it could provide powerful prognostic factors in both groups. Compared to echocardiography, cardiac MRI appears to provide additional information by visualizing myocardial fibrosis and inflammation. Finally, the present study has shown that RV dilatation is not specific for pulmonary arterial hypertension and could correspond to a specific heart involvement in systemic sclerosis.