Early detection of contractile dysfunction in GRMD dogs by post-processing of standard cine FLASH-MRI

Introduction Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) due to dystrophin deficiency leads to death by heart failure in nearly 30% of cases. An early detection of myocardial abnormalities in these patients would help in the optimization of their management. The GRMD is a canine model of DMD, that develops a severe cardiomyopathy. Purpose Post-processing of standard cine-MR images of young GRMD dogs, before any sign of cardiac global dysfunction is patent. The aim of the study was to detect minor changes in synchronism or contraction patterns of the left ventricle of golden retriever muscular dystrophy (GRMD) dog as compared to control dogs.