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Background: The pattern of late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) in cardiomyopathy is quite different in children compared to adults. In addition, the data about LGE imaging in children are still restricted, so the goal was to study the role of cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) with different techniques, including LGE images in diagnosis and evaluation of different types of cardiomyopathy in children. Results: In group A (enhancement group), LVEDV 146.2 (144) ml, indexed LVEDV 81.8 (195) ml, LVESV 50 (357) ml, indexed LVESV 47.5 (243) ml, and LVEF 36% (64%), and a major adverse effect was found in 12 out of 15 cases (80%). However, in group B (non-enhancement group), the results were LVEDV 72 (303) ml, indexed LVEDV 75 (318) ml, LVESV 30 (220) ml, indexed LVESV 37.1 (189) ml, and LVEF 45.79% (65%), and a major adverse cardiac effect was found in 2 out of 16 cases (12.5%). The LVEF was lower, and LV volume indices including LVEDV and LVESV were higher in patients with LGE compared to those without LGE with a statistically significant difference (p value = 0.001, p value = 0.003, and p value = 0.005, respectively). Furthermore, it was also found that a major adverse effect occurs with higher incidence in enhancement cases (92%) as compared to non-enhancement cases (12.5%) with a statistically significant difference (p value ≤ 0.001). LGE was found in 15 cases out of 31 cases (48.4%); however, the remaining 13 cases had no contrast study. Conclusion: Cardiac MRI can be considered as an important non-invasive imaging modality, not only for assessment but also for differentiation between ischemic and non-ischemic cardiomyopathy in the pediatric age group. Using its different techniques allows a better assessment of morphologic and functional parameters in cardiomyopathy. Moreover, the late gadolinium enhancement is regarded as a promising non-invasive tool in the detection and quantification of myocardial scars. That is considered of high importance in diagnosis, categorization, and detection of etiology in most cases of different types of cardiomyopathy, in addition to risk stratification that can be an essential step in patient management.

Background: Cerebrovascular ischemia results from insufficient blood flow due to the obstruction of blood vessels in the brain which leads to rapid cellular necrosis [1] . Depending on the affected populations of neurons, serious deficits can manifest. Aim of Study:To investigate the associationof diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) metrics of the corticospinal tract (CST) and clinical assessment on motor recovery at 3 months in ischemic stroke patients.Material and Methods: 23 ischemic stroke patients were included in this observational longitudinal study. The patients underwent DTI scanning in the acute and subacute stages of stroke (Within 2 weeks from the time of the initial impairment and after 3 months respectively). Fractional anisotropy ratio (rFA) and mean diffusivity ratio (rMD)between the ipsilesional and contralesional sides were used as DTI metrics. Standard upper extremity Fugl-Meyer assessment (UE-FM) was used to estimate the functional motor outcome at the same time points of the DTI acquisition. Multipleline arregression analysis was used to develop a prediction model in order toassociate the motor outcome (UE-FM at 3 months) to DTI and initial motor assessment variables.Results: 23 stroke patients (mean age 65.70 ±8.86, 26.1% females) completed the study. rFA was found to show significant positive correlation with the motor score (UE-FM) in the acute stage ( r=0.486, p=.02) and in the subacute stage (r=0.681, p=.002). No significant correlations were found between the rMD and the motor score at either of the two time points. The multivariate regression model statistically significantly predicted the motor score at 3 months with an adjusted R 2 of .420, p=.004. However, only rFA at the subacute stage was independently associated with the motor score in this multivariate framework, p=.012. Conclusion:We found that rFA values along the CST in the acute and subacute stages of ischemic stroke could help predict the outcome of motor impairment in stroke patients. These results will be useful in furthering our understanding of the motor recovery mechanisms in stroke and will facilitate the clinical decision making.