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With mounting data on its accuracy and prognostic value, cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) is becoming an increasingly important diagnostic tool with growing utility in clinical routine. Given its versatility and wide range of quantitative parameters, however, agreement on specific standards for the interpretation and post-processing of CMR studies is required to ensure consistent quality and reproducibility of CMR reports. This document addresses this need by providing consensus recommendations developed by the Task Force for Post-Processing of the Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance (SCMR). The aim of the Task Force is to recommend requirements and standards for image interpretation and post-processing enabling qualitative and quantitative evaluation of CMR images. Furthermore, pitfalls of CMR image analysis are discussed where appropriate. It is an update of the original recommendations published 2013.

News from the Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Editorial The Society has begun 2011 on multiple highpoints, yet these have been tempered by a recent and particularly saddening low - the untimely death of Stefan Fischer. For those of you unaware, Stefan was the Director of Clinical Science for Philips Healthcare, North America, an important developer of CMR pulse sequences, tools and equipment that remain critical standards today; he was a longstanding member of SCMR with friends too numerous to count in our Society and field. I had known Stefan for well over a decade, and knew him as fiercely intelligent, strong-willed yet gently firm in his guidance, purposeful in increasing the benefits we impart to patients with our technology, and always practical. His passing leaves a gap that is impossible to fill, both in our Society, and in our hearts. I trust that the work we pursue in this Society will continue to live up to those characteristics and ideals that he embodied. To recap key Society events thus far, the year began with the 2011 SCMR Annual Scientific Sessions held in conjunction with the Euro CMR Working Group in Nice, France. It was a great success with a record number of participants from around the world. Much of that success can be attributed to the constant and hard work put forth by the Program and Abstract Chairs, Sven Plein, MD, and Raymond Kwong, MD, who put together an outstanding scientific program with a compelling array of scientific presentations, excellent posters, invited talks, and thought provoking case-sessions. The opening plenary was an important prelude to the thrust of the meeting where Michael Lauer, MD, of the NHLBI, emphasized the critical importance of CMR investigators and clinicians to design trials that alter patient outcome, as opposed to simply providing a superior diagnosis - a theme that was emphasized repeatedly as necessary to maximize CMR’s impact on clinical care. During the meeting, the Society awarded its first Gold Medal Award, given for distinguished and extraordinary service to the field of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance and to the Society. Fittingly, Gerald Pohost, MD, and Charles Higgins, MD, two long-standing and esteemed leaders in CMR and the Society were the inaugural winners of this annual award. Outside of the annual meeting fantastic news was

Introduction Abnormal aortic stiffness implies an unfavorable prognosis in a variety of aortic diseases, and is considered an emerging biomarker for cardiovascular disease. In bicuspid aortic valve (BAV), aortic stiffness can be elevated as a result of intrinsic aortopathy, as well as geometrical, morphological and functional abnormalities. Aortic regurgitation (AR) is associated with LV dysfunction in approximately 4% of patients per year. It has been found that loss of vascular elasticity in patients with AR hastens the development of symptoms, as typically aortic regurgitation is compensated for by increased systolic volume, which is then further accommodated by compliant arteries.

Introduction ZOOM is a spin echo based technique with high spatial resolution [1]. ZOOM differs from traditional spin echo imaging in that the 180° refocusing radiofrequency pulse is applied perpendicular to the 90° excitation pulse, limiting the field of view to the intersection of these pulses. Turbo spin echo (TSE) black blood images are acquired routinely during MRI assessment of patients with arrhythomogenic right ventricular dysplasia (ARVD). High spatial resolution is necessary for characterizing the thin RV wall in suspected ARVD patients, which is typically only 23.5 mm thick.

ss Open Acce Oral presentation Degree of mitral regurgitation and left ventricular scarring are more powerful predictors of long-term outcomes than volumes and sphericity: a multi-modality imaging study in patients with severe ischemic cardiomyopathy Deborah Kwon*, Zoran B Popovic, Venugopal Menon, Carmel M Halley, Danielle Brennan, Randall C Starling, Scott D Flamm, Paul Schoenhagen, Bruce W Lytle, Brian P Griffin and Milind Y Desai

Beyond the morphologic and functional abnormalities of the bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) there is also intrinsic pathology of the aortic wall, manifested by potentially lethal complications such as aortic aneurysm or dissection. Aortic distensibility and compliance are impaired in atherosclerotic aortic aneurysms and Marfan syndrome. Similar abnormalities of compliance are felt to occur in the setting of BAV, though this has been little studied with velocity-encoded magnetic resonance imaging (VENC-MRI), and further there is no data on the influence of BAV morphology on this abnormality. VENC-MRI is a potent non-invasive technique to determine aortic distensibility via aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV) measurements; in addition these measurements do not depend on knowledge of central arterial pressure or geometrical assumptions that may limit alternative measurement tools.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is characterized by disproportionate left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy, which cannot be attributed to other concomitant cardiac or systemic diseases. HCM can result in accelerated cardiac remodelling; thus affecting the pathophysiology of the disease. Because of an increased utilization of cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) in the diagnosis and management of HCM, we have observed that a subgroup of HCM patients had a steep LV to aortic root angle (LVARA, Figure ​Figure11). Open in a separate window Figure 1 Quantification of LVARA using the 5 chamber view.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) patients with similar basal septal hypertrophy (BSH) can have significantly different degrees of dynamic obstruction, quantified by the left ventricular outflow tract gradient (LVOTG). Furthermore, an elevated LVOTG can be seen even with minimal BSH. Using advanced 3-dimensional whole-heart sequence on cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR), we observed a spectrum of acuity in the LV to aortic root angle (LVARA) in our study population of HCM patients (Figure ​(Figure11). Open in a separate window Figure 1 Quantification of the LVARA in the 5 chamber view.