Abstract
Patients with systemic sclerosis have been shown to have higher ECV and native T1 values compared to the control group, which corresponds to diffuse fibrotic involvement of the myocardium. We found the correlation of MR parameters with degree of skin involvement.
Myocardial fibrosis detected with MR correlated only with GDF-15 and galectin-3 levels. GDF-15 also correlated with the severity of skin sclerosis and impaired pulmonary function in patients with systemic sclerosis.
The question of whether the screening assay for GDF-15 and galectin-3 could help stratify the risk of systemic sclerosis and help with MR and Holter ECG.