Presence of late gadolinium enhancement in Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients is associated with age and global ventricular function

Background The Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) associated cardiac disease results in significant morbidity and mortality usually resulting in death by the second to third decade of life. End-stage cardiac pathology consists of alternating areas of myocyte hypertrophy, atrophy and fibrosis manifesting as late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) on cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) evaluation. There has been considerable interest in detecting the presence of LGE, and previous studies have associated LGE with global ventricular dysfunction as assessed by ejection fraction (EF). However, given the genetic origins and underlying pathogenesis of DMDassociated cardiac disease, we hypothesized that LGE is prevalent in patients without overt disease.