Interstitial Edema of the Interatrial Septum in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation and Chronic Heart Failure

We studied the presence of interstitial edema of the interatrial septum in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) with atrial fibrillation (n=23) or without rhythm disturbances (n=9). The intensity of the MRI signal of the interatrial septum, interventricular septum, and skeletal muscle by T2-weighted MRI and the enhancement index of interatrial septum (the ratio of the signal intensity of the interatrial septum to the signal intensity of the skeletal muscle) were evaluated. The enhancement index of interatrial septum ⩾2 was regarded as an MRI sign of myocardial edema. The enhancement index of interatrial septum in patients with persistent atrial fibrillation was 2.4 (2.21; 2.69) and was higher than in CHF patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation and in CHF patients without arrhythmias and surpassed the control values (p<0.05), which indicates the presence of MRI signs of edema of the myocardium of the interatrial septum. The obtained data confirm the presence of myocardial edema of the interatrial septum in CHF patients and persistent form of atrial fibrillation, which expands the understanding of the pathogenesis of this condition.