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Abstract Background Cardiovascular magnetic resonance myocardial feature tracking (CMR-FT) is a recently described method of post processing routine cine acquisitions which aims to provide quantitative measurements of circumferentially and radially directed ventricular wall strain. Inter-study reproducibility is important for serial assessments however has not been defined for CMR-FT. Methods 16 healthy volunteers were imaged 3 times within a single day. The first examination was performed at 0900 after fasting and was immediately followed by the second. The third, non-fasting scan, was performed at 1400. CMR-FT measures of segmental and global strain parameters were calculated. Left ventricular (LV) circumferential and radial strain were determined in the short axis orientation (EccSAX and ErrSAX respectively). LV and right ventricular longitudinal strain and LV radial strain were determined from the 4-chamber orientation (EllLV, EllRV, and ErrLAX respectively). LV volumes and function were also analysed. Inter-study reproducibility and study sample sizes required to demonstrate 5% changes in absolute strain were determined by comparison of the first and second exams. The third exam was used to determine whether diurnal variation affected reproducibility. Results CMR-FT strain analysis inter-study reproducibility was variable. Global strain assessment was more reproducible than segmental analysis. Overall EccSAX was the most reproducible measure of strain: coefficient of variation (CV) 38% and 20.3% and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) 0.68 (0.55-0.78) and 0.7 (0.32-0.89) for segmental and global analysis respectively. The least reproducible segmental measure was EllRV: CV 60% and ICC 0.56 (0.41-0.69) whilst the least reproducible global measure was ErrLAX: CV 33.3% and ICC 0.44 (0–0.77). Variable reproducibility was also reflected in the calculated sample sizes, which ranged from 11 (global EccSAX) to 156 subjects (segmental EllRV). The reproducibility of LV volumes and function was excellent. There was no diurnal variation in global strain or LV volumetric measurements. Conclusions Inter-study reproducibility of CMR-FT varied between different parameters, as summarized above and was better for global rather than segmental analysis. It was not measurably affected by diurnal variation. CMR-FT may have potential for quantitative wall motion analysis with applications in patient management and clinical trials. However, inter-study reproducibility was relatively poor for segmental and long axis analyses of strain, which have yet to be validated, and may benefit from further development.

Abstract Background Systemic-to-pulmonary collateral flow (SPCF) may constitute a risk factor for increased morbidity and mortality in patients with single-ventricle physiology (SV). However, clinical research is limited by the complexity of multi-vessel two-dimensional (2D) cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) flow measurements. We sought to validate four-dimensional (4D) velocity acquisition sequence for concise quantification of SPCF and flow distribution in patients with SV. Methods 29 patients with SV physiology prospectively underwent CMR (1.5 T) (n = 14 bidirectional cavopulmonary connection [BCPC], age 2.9 ± 1.3 years; and n = 15 Fontan, 14.4 ± 5.9 years) and 20 healthy volunteers (age, 28.7 ± 13.1 years) served as controls. A single whole-heart 4D velocity acquisition and five 2D flow acquisitions were performed in the aorta, superior/inferior caval veins, right/left pulmonary arteries to serve as gold-standard. The five 2D velocity acquisition measurements were compared with 4D velocity acquisition for validation of individual vessel flow quantification and time efficiency. The SPCF was calculated by evaluating the disparity between systemic (aortic minus caval vein flows) and pulmonary flows (arterial and venour return). The pulmonary right to left and the systemic lower to upper body flow distribution were also calculated. Results The comparison between 4D velocity and 2D flow acquisitions showed good Bland-Altman agreement for all individual vessels (mean bias, 0.05±0.24 l/min/m2), calculated SPCF (−0.02±0.18 l/min/m2) and significantly shorter 4D velocity acquisition-time (12:34 min/17:28 min,p 2; Fontan 0.62±0.82 l/min/m2) and not in controls (0.01 + 0.16 l/min/m2), (3) inverse relation of right/left pulmonary artery perfusion and right/left SPCF (Pearson = −0.47,p = 0.01) and (4) upper to lower body flow distribution trend related to the weight (r = 0.742, p Conclusions 4D velocity acquisition is reliable, operator-independent and more time-efficient than 2D flow acquisition to quantify SPCF. There is considerable SPCF in BCPC and Fontan patients. SPCF was more pronounced towards the respective lung with less pulmonary arterial flow suggesting more collateral flow where less anterograde branch pulmonary artery perfusion.

Abstract Background Dobutamine stress cardiovascular magnetic resonance (DS-CMR) is an established tool to assess hibernating myocardium and ischemia. Analysis is typically based on visual assessment with considerable operator dependency. CMR myocardial feature tracking (CMR-FT) is a recently introduced technique for tissue voxel motion tracking on standard steady-state free precession (SSFP) images to derive circumferential and radial myocardial mechanics. We sought to determine the feasibility and reproducibility of CMR-FT for quantitative wall motion assessment during intermediate dose DS-CMR. Methods 10 healthy subjects were studied at 1.5 Tesla. Myocardial strain parameters were derived from SSFP cine images using dedicated CMR-FT software (Diogenes MRI prototype; Tomtec; Germany). Right ventricular (RV) and left ventricular (LV) longitudinal strain (EllRV and EllLV) and LV long-axis radial strain (ErrLAX) were derived from a 4-chamber view at rest. LV short-axis circumferential strain (EccSAX) and ErrSAX; LV ejection fraction (EF) and volumes were analyzed at rest and during dobutamine stress (10 and 20 μg · kg-1· min-1). Results In all volunteers strain parameters could be derived from the SSFP images at rest and stress. EccSAX values showed significantly increased contraction with DSMR (rest: -24.1 ± 6.7; 10 μg: -32.7 ± 11.4; 20 μg: -39.2 ± 15.2; p < 0.05). ErrSAX increased significantly with dobutamine (rest: 19.6 ± 14.6; 10 μg: 31.8 ± 20.9; 20 μg: 42.4 ± 25.5; p < 0.05). In parallel with these changes; EF increased significantly with dobutamine (rest: 56.9 ± 4.4%; 10 μg: 70.7 ± 8.1; 20 μg: 76.8 ± 4.6; p < 0.05). Observer variability was best for LV circumferential strain (EccSAX ) and worst for RV longitudinal strain (EllRV) as determined by 95% confidence intervals of the difference. Conclusions CMR-FT reliably detects quantitative wall motion and strain derived from SSFP cine imaging that corresponds to inotropic stimulation. The current implementation may need improvement to reduce observer-induced variance. Within a given CMR lab; this novel technique holds promise of easy and fast quantification of wall mechanics and strain.