Myocardial fibrosis (MF) is a common pathophysiologic endpoint in non-ischemic 
cardiomyopathy and may be identified by late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) MRI. 
While associated with future cardiovascular events in hypertrophic 
cardiomyopathy (HCM) and dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) the influence of MF on 
interim quality of life (QOL) has not been explored. In this study we 
investigate for associations between MF and validated indices of QOL in patients 
with HCM and DCM. Ninety-eight patients with known cardiomyopathy (n = 56-HCM/n 
= 42-DCM) underwent LGE-MRI in addition to standardized testing for QOL using 
the disease-specific Minnesota Living With Heart Failure (MLWHF) and the generic 
SF-12 questionnaires. LGE-MRI images were blindly analyzed for the presence and 
volume of MF using validated techniques. All analyses were stratified according 
to cardiomyopathy sub-type. The mean age of the population was 56.8 ± 12.9 
years. MF was identified in 82 % of patients with HCM and 74 % of patients with 
DCM with respective mean MF burdens of 20.0 and 13.7 % of the left ventricular 
mass (p = 0.008). QOL scores for those with HCM or DCM, as assessed by both 
MLWHF and SF-12, were not significantly different between those with versus 
those without MF, and showed no association with MF burden by quantitative 
signal analysis. In this study we identified no association between QOL and MF 
burden by LGE-MRI in patients with HCM or DCM. Therefore, the severity of 
underlying myocardial tissue disease, a recognized substrate for ventricular 
arrhythmia, cannot and should not be inferred from the patient's symptom status 
or QOL.