Myocardial calcification is a rare but increasingly recognized sequela of severe systemic illness, notably sepsis and critical-care states. The reported series highlights imaging findings and clinical implications in three patients who developed left ventricular myocardial calcification after septic shock or prolonged intensive care unit (ICU) admission. The cases illustrate how anatomical and tissue-based imaging modalities can be combined to define extent, characterize tissue, and inform risk assessment.
The source presents a case series of three men who developed left ventricular myocardial calcification following episodes of severe sepsis or extended ICU care. Specific demographic details, comorbidities, timelines, interventions, and individual patient outcomes beyond the imaging descriptions were not reported in the abstract. The series was published as a JACC Case Reports article in 2026 (PMID 42627318; DOI 10.1016/j.jaccas.2026.109933).
In all three patients, cardiac computed tomography (CT) identified the presence, extent, and distribution of myocardial calcium deposition. CT provided clear anatomical delineation of calcific deposits within the left ventricular myocardium, enabling visualization of calcium burden and segmental involvement. The report emphasizes CT's capacity to map calcium deposition reliably, which is particularly useful when assessing the anatomic scope of postseptic myocardial injury.
Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) was performed in the reported cases and demonstrated nonischemic late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) in myocardial segments corresponding to areas of calcification identified by CT. CMR contributed tissue-level information, showing patterns of LGE that were not consistent with typical ischemic injury but aligned with a nonischemic postinflammatory or critical-illness process. The combination of LGE on CMR with calcification on CT supports a multimodal interpretation of myocardial injury after sepsis.
The three cases underscore that postseptic myocardial calcification can have heterogeneous long-term cardiac consequences. While the abstract does not provide granular clinical follow-up or specific arrhythmic event rates, it highlights that the combination of structural calcification and corresponding nonischemic LGE may bear on arrhythmic risk assessment and functional prognosis. Clinicians should be aware that myocardial calcification after severe systemic illness may produce variable sequelae and warrant targeted cardiac evaluation.
The series illustrates complementary roles for imaging modalities:
Cardiac CT: optimal for detecting and mapping the anatomical distribution and burden of myocardial calcium.
CMR with LGE: essential for tissue characterization, differentiating nonischemic enhancement patterns from ischemic scars and identifying fibrosis or inflammatory sequelae associated with calcified regions.
Together, CT and CMR inform diagnosis, enable correlation between structural deposits and tissue changes, support arrhythmic risk stratification considerations, and provide a framework for longitudinal follow-up. The report positions multimodality imaging as valuable for comprehensive assessment in patients with suspected postseptic myocardial calcification.
The abstract describes three illustrative cases but does not present detailed patient-level data, management strategies, or long-term outcomes in the abstract text. Specifics such as timing of imaging relative to clinical events, quantitative calcium scoring, functional measures, arrhythmic events, or therapeutic implications were not reported in the abstract. Nonetheless, the key conclusions are that myocardial calcification can follow severe sepsis or prolonged ICU admission, that cardiac computed tomography reliably shows calcium distribution, and that cardiac magnetic resonance reveals nonischemic late gadolinium enhancement in corresponding segments. These findings support a multimodality imaging approach for diagnosis, tissue characterization, arrhythmic risk assessment, and follow-up.
This case series and review were published in JACC Case Reports in 2026 by Ruiz-López et al. The authors reported no conflicts of interest. PubMed identifier (PMID) 42627318; DOI 10.1016/j.jaccas.2026.109933.