Feature tracking cardiac magnetic resonance imaging to assess cardiac manifestations of systemic diseases

Feature-tracking cardiac magnetic resonance (FT-CMR), with the ability to quantify myocardial deformation, has a unique role in the evaluation of subclinical myocardial abnormalities. This review aimed to evaluate the clinical use of cardiac FT-CMR-based myocardial strain in patients with various systemic diseases with cardiac involvement, such as hypertension, diabetes, cancer-therapy-related toxicities, amyloidosis, systemic scleroderma, myopathies, rheumatoid arthritis, thalassemia major, and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We concluded that FT-CMR-derived strain can improve the accuracy of risk stratification and predict cardiac outcomes in patients with systemic diseases prior to symptomatic cardiac dysfunction. Furthermore, FT-CMR is particularly useful for patients with diseases or conditions which are associated with subtle myocardial dysfunction that may not be accurately detected with traditional methods. Compared to patients with cardiovascular diseases, patients with systemic diseases are less likely to undergo regular cardiovascular imaging to detect cardiac defects, whereas cardiac involvement in these patients can lead to major adverse outcomes; hence, the importance of cardiac imaging modalities might be underestimated in this group of patients. In this review, we gathered currently available data on the newly introduced role of FT-CMR in the diagnosis and prognosis of various systemic conditions. Further research is needed to define reference values and establish the role of this sensitive imaging modality, as a robust marker in predicting outcomes across a wide spectrum of patients.