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Background : Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a frequent comorbidity in patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). If significant CAD can be excluded on coronary CT-angiography (cCTA), invasive coronary angiography (ICA) may be avoided. However, a high plaque burden may make the exclusion of CAD challenging, particularly for less experienced readers. The objective was to analyze the ability of machine learning (ML)-based CT-derived fractional flow reserve (CT-FFR) to correctly categorize cCTA studies without obstructive CAD acquired during pre-TAVI evaluation and to correlate recategorization to image quality and coronary artery calcium score (CAC). Methods : In total, 116 patients without significant stenosis (≥50% diameter) on cCTA as part of pre-TAVI CT were included. Patients were examined with an electrocardiogram-gated CT scan of the heart and high-pitch scan of the torso. Patients were re-evaluated with ML-based CT-FFR (threshold = 0.80). The standard of reference was ICA. Image quality was assessed quantitatively and qualitatively. Results : ML-based CT-FFR was successfully performed in 94.0% (109/116) of patients, including 436 vessels. With CT-FFR, 76/109 patients and 126/436 vessels were falsely categorized as having significant CAD. With CT-FFR 2/2 patients but no vessels initially falsely classified by cCTA were correctly recategorized as having significant CAD. Reclassification occurred predominantly in distal segments. Virtually no correlation was found between image quality or CAC. Conclusions : Unselectively applied, CT-FFR may vastly increase the number of false positive ratings of CAD compared to morphological scoring. Recategorization was virtually independently from image quality or CAC and occurred predominantly in distal segments. It is unclear whether or not the reduced CT-FFR represent true pressure ratios and potentially signifies pathophysiology in patients with severe aortic stenosis.

Purpose: In the light of the increasing importance of cardiovascular cross-sectional imaging in current guidelines, the goal of this study is to provide a comprehensive overview of cardiovascular imaging (CVI) offered by radiological institutions across Germany., Materials and Methods: Data were extracted from the national certification program database of the German Roentgen Society (DRG) from 2015-2021. A nationwide online survey among radiology institutes (university hospitals, non-university hospitals, and private practices) was conducted for 2019, and data was extracted from the European Society of Cardiovascular Radiology (ESCR) registry. The data collection's key points included the number of centers and individuals certified for CVI, the number of cardiac CT and MRI examinations performed, the reporting habits, and the participation in the ESCR registry., Results: 71 centers and 1278 persons, both with a substantial increase since 2015, were registered and certified by the DRG to perform CVI. According to the survey, a total of 69,286 CT and 64,281 MRI examinations were performed annually. Data from the survey and the ESCR registry indicated that reporting was mostly done solely by radiologists or, to a lesser degree, in joint consensus meetings with non-radiologists. The overall participation rate in the ESCR registry was 48 % among the survey's participants., Conclusion: This comprehensive analysis demonstrates that high-quality CVI by radiologists is available nationwide. The current challenges are to provide the best medical and technical quality of CVI by radiology for patient care and to ensure economic sustainability in the German health care system to accommodate the predicted substantial need for CVI in the future., Key Points: · High-quality advanced CVI service by radiologists is available nationwide.. · Highly qualified specialist knowledge is widely represented from university to private practices.. · Certification programs successfully contribute to the dissemination & deepening of CVI expertise.. · The ESCR registry is an established international tool for the documentation of CVI.., Citation Format: · Sieren M, Maintz D, Gutberlet M et al. Current Status of Cardiovascular Imaging in Germany: Structured Data from the National Certification Program, ESCR Registry, and Survey among Radiologists. Fortschr Röntgenstr 2022; 194: 181 - 191., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (Thieme. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Inflammatory cardiomyopathy (ICM) frequently leads to myocardial fibrosis, resulting in permanent deterioration of the left ventricular function and an unfavorable outcome. Soluble suppression of tumorigenicity 2 receptor (sST2) is a novel marker of inflammation and fibrosis in cardiovascular tissues. sST2 was found to be helpful in predicting adverse outcomes in heart failure patients with reduced ejection fraction. The aim of this study was to determine the association of sST2 plasma levels with cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) and echocardiography imaging features of left ventricular impairment in ICM patients, as well as to evaluate the applicability of sST2 as a prognosticator of the clinical status in patients suffering from ICM., Methods: We used plasma samples of 89 patients presenting to the Heart Center Leipzig with clinically suspected myocardial inflammation. According to immunohistochemical findings in endomyocardial biopsies (EMB) conducted in the context of patients' diagnostic work-up, inflammatory cardiomyopathy was diagnosed in 60 patients (ICM group), and dilated cardiomyopathy in 29 patients (DCM group). All patients underwent cardiac catheterization for exclusion of coronary artery disease and CMR imaging on 1.5 or 3 Tesla. sST2 plasma concentration was determined using ELISA., Results: Mean plasma concentration of sST2 in the whole patient cohort was 45.8 ± 26.4 ng/mL (IQR 27.5 ng/mL). In both study groups, patients within the highest quartile of sST2 plasma concentration had a significantly lower left ventricular ejection fraction (LV-EF) compared to patients within the lowest sST2 plasma concentration quartile (26 ± 11% vs. 40 ± 13%, p = 0.05 for ICM and 24 ± 13% vs. 51 ± 10%, p = 0.004 for DCM). sST2 predicted New York Heart Association (NYHA) class III/IV at 12 months follow-up more efficiently in ICM compared to DCM patients (AUC 0.85 vs. 0.61, p = 0.02) and was in these terms superior to NT-proBNP and cardiac troponin T. ICM patients with sST2 plasma concentration higher than 44 ng/mL at baseline had a significantly higher probability of being assigned to NYHA class III/IV at 12 months follow-up (hazard ratio 2.8, 95% confidence interval 1.01-7.6, log rank p = 0.05)., Conclusion: Plasma sST2 levels in ICM patients reflect the degree of LV functional impairment at hospital admission and predict functional NYHA class at mid-term follow-up. Hence, ST2 may be helpful in the evaluation of disease severity and in the prediction of the clinical status in ICM patients.

Purpose: To develop and evaluate susceptibility corrected 2D proton resonance frequency (PRF)-based magnetic resonance (MR)-thermometry for the accurate assessment of the ablation zone of hepatic microwave ablation (MWA)., Methods and Materials: Twelve hepatic MWA were performed in five LEWE minipigs with human-like fissure-free liver. Temperature maps during ablation of PRF-based MR-thermometry were corrected by modeling heat induced susceptibility changes. Ablation zones were determined using cumulative equivalent minutes at 43 °C (CEM43) as tissue damage model. T1 weighted (w) post-ablation contrast-enhanced (CE) MR-imaging and manually segmented postmortem histology were used for validation. The agreement of uncorrected (raw) and susceptibility corrected (corr) MR-thermometry with T1w post-ablation CE MR-imaging and histology was evaluated. The Wilcoxon-signed rank test and Bland-Altman analysis were applied., Results: With the susceptibility corrected MR-thermometry a significantly increased dice coefficient (raw: 77% vs. corr: 83%, p  < 0.01) and sensitivity (raw: 72% vs. corr: 82%, p  < 0.01) was found for the comparison to T1w-CE imaging as well as histopathology (dice coefficients: raw: 76% vs. corr: 79%, p  < 0.001; sensitivity: raw: 72% vs. corr: 74%, p  < 0.001). While major axis length was significantly increased (7.1 mm, p  < 0.001) and minor axis length significantly decreased (2.2 mm, p  < 0.001) in uncorrected MR-thermometry compared to T1w-CE MR-imaging, no significant bias was found after susceptibility correction., Conclusion: Using susceptibility corrected 2D PRF-based MR-thermometry to predict the ablation zones of hepatic MWA provided a good agreement in comparison to T1w post-ablation CE MR-imaging and histopathology.

Background: There is a clinical need for imaging-derived biomarkers for the management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Observed pulmonary T 1 (T 1 (TE)) depends on the echo-time (TE) and reflects regional pulmonary function., Purpose: To investigate the potential diagnostic value of T 1 (TE) for the assessment of lung disease in COPD patients by determining correlations with clinical parameters and quantitative CT., Study Type: Prospective non-randomized diagnostic study., Population: Thirty COPD patients (67.7 ± 6.6 years). Data from a previous study (15 healthy volunteers [26.2 ± 3.9 years) were used as reference., Field Strength/sequence: Study participants were examined at 1.5 T using dynamic contrast-enhanced three-dimensional gradient echo keyhole perfusion sequence and a multi-echo inversion recovery two-dimensional UTE (ultra-short TE) sequence for T 1 (TE) mapping at TE 1-5  = 70 μsec, 500 μsec, 1200 μsec, 1650 μsec, and 2300 μsec., Assessment: Perfusion images were scored by three radiologists. T 1 (TE) was automatically quantified. Computed tomography (CT) images were quantified in software (qCT). Clinical parameters including pulmonary function testing were also acquired., Statistical Tests: Spearman rank correlation coefficients (ρ) were calculated between T 1 (TE) and perfusion scores, clinical parameters and qCT. A P-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant., Results: Median values were T 1 (TE 1-5 ) = 644 ± 78 msec, 835 ± 92 msec, 835 ± 87 msec, 831 ± 131 msec, 893 ± 220 msec, all significantly shorter than previously reported in healthy subjects. A significant increase of T 1 was observed from TE 1 to TE 2 , with no changes from TE 2 to TE 3 (P = 0.48), TE 3 to TE 4 (P = 0.94) or TE 4 to TE 5 (P = 0.02) which demonstrates an increase at shorter TEs than in healthy subjects. Moderate to strong Spearman's correlations between T 1 and parameters including the predicted diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide (DLCO, ρ < 0.70), mean lung density (MLD, ρ < 0.72) and the perfusion score (ρ > -0.69) were found. Overall, correlations were strongest at TE 2 , weaker at TE 1 and rarely significant at TE 4 -TE 5 ., Data Conclusion: In COPD patients, the increase of T 1 (TE) with TE occurred at shorter TEs than previously found in healthy subjects. Together with the lack of correlation between T 1 and clinical parameters of disease at longer TEs, this suggests that T 1 (TE) quantification in COPD patients requires shorter TEs. The TE-dependence of correlations implies that T 1 (TE) mapping might be developed further to provide diagnostic information beyond T 1 at a single TE., Level of Evidence: 2 TECHNICAL EFFICACY: Stage 1., (© 2021 The Authors. Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging published by Wiley Periodicals LLC. on behalf of International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.)

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) guided Microwave Ablation (MWA) allows for real-time therapy monitoring with MRI-thermometry. The MWA generator emits Radio Frequency (RF) interference, which can limit the accuracy of therapy monitoring. The image quality is enhanced by Floating Cable Traps (FCTs) that are used to attenuate common mode currents on supply lines between a MWA generator, and its ablation applicator. The effect of an FCT on the Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR), and changes in the MRI spectrum are discussed in this paper. The application of FCT can bring significant improvements in both, the MRI spectrum and the SNR.Floating Cable Traps are user-friendly. FCT enable coaxial cables to reduce interferences emitted in MRI guided interventions. It is used to selectively attenuate frequencies in the MRI's range. This can increase the image's Signal to Noise Ratio.

Aim: To evaluate the ability to assess the coronary arteries using pre-procedural computed tomography (CT; high-pitch mode) in patients referred for transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI)., Methods and Materials: CT and invasive coronary angiography (ICA) were performed pre-TAVI in 100 patients (46 women; 79 ± 5.9 years). CT was performed in prospectively ECG-triggered high-pitch mode after intravenous administration of 70 ml iodinated contrast medium. Image quality was assessed using a four-point scale (graded 0-3). Significant coronary artery stenosis (≥50% diameter) was graded as either present or absent by one observer and in one-third of patients by two observers independently. ICA was the standard of reference. Results were reported per segment and per patient., Results: Twenty-two percent of patients had known coronary artery disease (CAD). In two cases, a coronary anomaly was detected. Diagnostic image quality (grade 1-3) was achieved in 30.3% of segments. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) were 75%, 80.5%, 16%, and 98.5%, respectively. Significant coronary stenosis could be ruled out completely in all segments in three patients. The interrater agreement per patient was excellent (kappa = 1)., Conclusion: Relevant coronary findings can frequently be observed in high-pitch TAVI-planning CT. Despite the limitations of the technique and in patients referred to pre-TAVI evaluation (rapid heart rate, coronary calcifications, etc.), a valid evaluation of coronary arteries is possible in a considerable proportion of segments with a high NPV; however, few studies were completely free of motion artefacts to dependably exclude CAD using this technique in this challenging group of patients., (Copyright © 2021 The Royal College of Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Adipose tissue is a valuable biomarker. Although validation and correlation to clinical data have mostly been performed on non-enhanced scans (NES), a previous study has shown conversion of values of contrast enhanced scan (CES) into those of NES to be feasible with segmentation of the entire abdomen (3D-segmentation). In this study we analyzed if density and area of abdominal adipose tissue segmented in a single slice (2D-segmentation) of CES may be converted into that of NES. Furthermore, we compared the precision of conversion between 2D- and 3D-segmentation., Methods: Thirty-one multi-phasic abdominal CT examinations at identical scan settings were retrospectively included. Exams included NES (n=31), arterial (ART) (n=23), portal-venous (PVN) (n=10), and/or venous scan (VEN) (n=31). Density and area of visceral (VAT) and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) were quantified semi-automatically with fixed thresholds. For conversion of values from CES into those of NES regression analyses were performed and tested. 2D- and 3D-segmentation were compared with respect to conversion accuracy (normalized deviations of converted NES values from original measurements)., Results: After the application of contrast medium 2D-segmented adipose tissue increased in density (max. +5.6±2.4 HU) and decreased in area (max. -10.91%) (10.47%), with few exceptions (P<0.05). This was more pronounced in later scans (VEN ≈ PVN > ART) and more marked in VAT than SAT. Density and area in CES correlated very well with NES, allowing for conversion with only small error. While converted density is slightly more precise applying 3D-segmentation, conversion error of quantity was occasionally smaller with 2D-segmentation., Conclusions: Contrast medium changes density and quantity of segmented adipose tissue in differing degrees between compartments, contrast phases and 2D- and 3D-segmentation. However, changes are fairly constant for a given compartment, contrast phase and mode of segmentation. Therefore, conversion of values into those of NES may be achieved with comparable precision for 2D- and 3D-segmentation., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at https://dx.doi.org/10.21037/qims-21-178). The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (2021 Quantitative Imaging in Medicine and Surgery. All rights reserved.)

We hypothesized that multiparametric MRI is able to non-invasively assess, characterize and monitor renal allograft pathology in a translational mouse model of chronic allograft rejection. Chronic rejection was induced by allogenic kidney transplantation (ktx) of BALB/c-kidneys into C57BL/6-mice ( n = 23). Animals after isogenic ktx ( n = 18) and non-transplanted healthy animals ( n = 22) served as controls. MRI sequences (7T) were acquired 3 and 6 weeks after ktx and quantitative T1, T2 and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps were calculated. In addition, in a subset of animals, histological changes after ktx were evaluated. Chronic rejection was associated with a significant prolongation of T1 time compared to isogenic ktx 3 (1965 ± 53 vs. 1457 ± 52 ms, p < 0.001) and 6 weeks after surgery (1899 ± 79 vs. 1393 ± 51 ms, p < 0.001). While mean T2 times and ADC were not significantly different between allogenic and isogenic kidney grafts, histogram-based analysis of ADC revealed significantly increased tissue heterogeneity in allografts at both time points (standard derivation/entropy/interquartile range, p < 0.05). Correspondingly, histological analysis showed severe inflammation, graft fibrosis and tissue heterogeneity in allogenic but not in isogenic kidney grafts. In conclusion, renal diffusion weighted imaging and mapping of T2 and T1 relaxation times enable detection of chronic renal allograft rejection in mice. The combined quantitative assessment of mean values and histograms provides non-invasive information of chronic changes in renal grafts and allows longitudinal monitoring.

Purpose: Contrast-free lung MRI based on Fourier decomposition is an attractive method to monitor various lung diseases. However, the accuracy of the current perfusion quantification is limited. In this study, a new approach for perfusion quantification based on voxel-wise proton density and median signal decay toward the steady state for Fourier decomposition-based techniques is proposed called Q Quantified (Q Quant )., Methods: Twenty patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and 18 patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension received phase-resolved functional lung-MRI (PREFUL) and dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE)-MRI. Nine healthy participants received phase-resolved functional lung-MRI only. Median values of Q Quant were compared to a Fourier decomposition perfusion quantification presented by Kjørstad et al (Q Kjørstad ) and validated toward pulmonary blood flow derived by DCE-MRI (PBF DCE ). Blood fraction maps determined by the new approach were calculated. Regional and global correlation coefficients were calculated, and Bland-Altman plots were created. Histogram analyses of all cohorts were created., Results: The introduced parameter Q Quant showed only 2 mL/min/100 mL mean deviation to PBF DCE in the patient cohort and showed less bias than Q Kjørstad . Significant increases of regional correlation with PBF DCE were achieved (r = 0.3 vs. r = 0.2, P < .01*). The trend of global correlation toward PBF DCE is not uniform, showing higher values for Q Kjørstad in the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease cohort than for Q Quant and vice versa in the chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension cohort. In contrast to Q Kjørstad , Q Quant perfusion maps indicate a physiologic dorsoventral gradient in supine position similar to PBF DCE with similar value distribution in the histograms., Conclusion: We proposed a new approach for perfusion quantification of phase-resolved functional lung measurements. The developed parameter Q Quant reveals a higher accuracy compared to Q Kjørstad ., (© 2021 The Authors. Magnetic Resonance in Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.)

To characterize ischemia reperfusion injury (IRI)-induced acute kidney injury (AKI) in C57BL/6 (B6) and CD1-mice by longitudinal functional MRI-measurement of edema formation (T2-mapping) and inflammation (diffusion weighted imaging (DWI)). IRI was induced with unilateral right renal pedicle clamping for 35min. 7T-MRI was performed 1 and 14 days after surgery. DWI (7 b-values) and multiecho TSE sequences (7 TE) were acquired. Parameters were quantified in relation to the contralateral kidney on day 1 (d1). Renal MCP-1 and IL-6-levels were measured by qPCR and serum-CXCL13 by ELISA. Immunohistochemistry for fibronectin and collagen-4 was performed. T2-increase on d1 was higher in the renal cortex (127 ± 5% vs. 94 ± 6%, p < 0.01) and the outer stripe of the outer medulla (141 ± 9% vs. 111 ± 9%, p < 0.05) in CD1, indicating tissue edema. Medullary diffusivity was more restricted in CD1 than B6 (d1: 73 ± 3% vs. 90 ± 2%, p < 0.01 and d14: 77 ± 5% vs. 98 ± 3%, p < 0.01). Renal MCP-1 and IL-6-expression as well as systemic CXCL13-release were pronounced in CD1 on d1 after IRI. Renal fibrosis was detected in CD1 on d14. T2-increase and ADC-reduction on d1 correlated with kidney volume loss on d14 (r = 0.7, p < 0.05; r = 0.6, p < 0.05) and could serve as predictive markers. T2-mapping and DWI evidenced higher susceptibility to ischemic AKI in CD1 compared to B6.

Background: A previous study has demonstrated the feasibility of 3D phase-resolved functional lung (PREFUL) MRI in healthy volunteers and patients with chronic pulmonary disease. Before clinical use, the repeatability of the ventilation parameters derived from 3D PREFUL MRI must be determined., Purpose: To evaluate repeatability of 3D PREFUL and to compare with pulmonary functional lung testing (PFT)., Study Type: Prospective., Population: Fifty-three healthy subjects and 13 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)., Field Strength/sequence: A prototype 3D stack-of-stars spoiled-gradient-echo sequence at 1.5 T., Assessment: Study participants underwent repeated MRI examination (median time interval between scans COPD/healthy subjects [interquartile range]: 7/0 days [6-8/0-0 days]) and one PFT carried out at the time of the baseline MRI. For 3D PREFUL, regional ventilation (RVent) and flow-volume loops were computed and rated by cross-correlation (CC). Also, ventilation time-to-peak (VTTP) was computed. Ventilation defect percentage (VDP) maps were obtained for RVent and CC., Statistical Tests: Repeatability of 3D PREFUL parameters was evaluated using Bland-Altman analysis, coefficient of variation (COV) and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). The relation between 3D PREFUL and PFT measures (forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV 1 ) and forced vital capacity (FVC) was assessed using the Pearson correlation coefficient (r)., Results: In healthy subjects and COPD patients, no significant bias (all P range: 0.09-0.77) and a moderate to good repeatability of RVent, VTTP, and VDP RVent were found (COV range: 0.1%-18.2%, ICC range: 0.51-0.88). For CC and VDP CC moderate repeatability was found (COV range: 0.6%-43.6%, ICC: 0.38-0.60). CC, VDP RVent , and VDP CC showed a good correlation with FEV 1 (all |r| > 0.58, all P < 0.05) and FEV 1 /FVC ratio (all |r| > 0.62, all P < 0.05)., Data Conclusion: 3D PREFUL provided a good repeatability of RVent, VTTP, and VDP RVent and moderate repeatability of CC and VDP CC in healthy volunteers and COPD patients, and correlated well with FEV 1 and FEV 1 /FVC., Level of Evidence: 2 TECHNICAL EFFICACY STAGE: 2., (© 2021 The Authors. Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging published by Wiley Periodicals LLC. on behalf of International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.)

Objectives: This study investigated patterns of right ventricular (RV) contraction by using cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging in patients undergoing transcatheter tricuspid valve repair (TTVR)., Background: The role of RV function in patients with severe tricuspid regurgitation undergoing TTVR is poorly understood., Methods: Global RV dysfunction was defined as CMR-derived RV ejection fraction (RVEF) ≤45% and longitudinal RV dysfunction was defined as tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) <17 mm on echocardiography. Patients were stratified into 3 types of RV contraction: type I, TAPSE ≥17 and RVEF >45%; type II, TAPSE <17 and RVEF >45%; and type III, TAPSE <17 and RVEF ≤45%. CMR feature tracking was performed to assess longitudinal and circumferential RV strain. The primary outcome was a composite of all-cause mortality or first heart failure hospitalization., Results: Of 79 patients (median age 79 years, 51% female), 18 (23%) presented with global and 40 (51%) presented with longitudinal RV dysfunction. The composite outcome occurred in 22 patients (median follow-up 362 days). Global RV dysfunction but not longitudinal RV dysfunction (hazard ratio: 6.62; 95% confidence interval: 2.77-15.77; and hazard ratio: 1.30; 95% confidence interval: 0.55-3.08, respectively) was associated with the composite outcome. Compared with type I RV contraction, patients with type II RV contraction exhibited increased circumferential strain, with a preservation of RVEF despite diminished longitudinal strain. Patients with type III RV contraction exhibited both diminished longitudinal and circumferential strain, resulting in an impaired RVEF. Patients with type III RV contraction showed the worst survival (P < 0.001)., Conclusions: Global RV dysfunction is a predictor of outcomes among TTVR patients. Tricuspid regurgitation patients can be stratified into 3 types of RV contraction, in which a loss of longitudinal function can be compensated by increasing circumferential function, preserving RVEF and favorable outcomes., Competing Interests: Funding Support and Author Disclosures Dr Lurz has served as a consultant for Abbott Structural Heart, Edwards Lifesciences, and Medtronic. All other authors have reported that they have no relationships relevant to the contents of this paper to disclose., (Copyright © 2021 American College of Cardiology Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

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Machine learning offers great opportunities to streamline and improve clinical care from the perspective of cardiac imagers, patients, and the industry and is a very active scientific research field. In light of these advances, the European Society of Cardiovascular Radiology (ESCR), a non-profit medical society dedicated to advancing cardiovascular radiology, has assembled a position statement regarding the use of machine learning (ML) in cardiovascular imaging. The purpose of this statement is to provide guidance on requirements for successful development and implementation of ML applications in cardiovascular imaging. In particular, recommendations on how to adequately design ML studies and how to report and interpret their results are provided. Finally, we identify opportunities and challenges ahead. While the focus of this position statement is ML development in cardiovascular imaging, most considerations are relevant to ML in radiology in general. KEY POINTS: • Development and clinical implementation of machine learning in cardiovascular imaging is a multidisciplinary pursuit. • Based on existing study quality standard frameworks such as SPIRIT and STARD, we propose a list of quality criteria for ML studies in radiology. • The cardiovascular imaging research community should strive for the compilation of multicenter datasets for the development, evaluation, and benchmarking of ML algorithms.

Aims: Establishing a diagnosis of inflammatory cardiomyopathy (iCMP) by non-invasive means remains challenging despite advances in cardiac magnetic resonance imaging. Previous studies suggested the involvement of microRNAs in the pathogenesis of iCMP. We examined the association of a predefined set of circulatory microRNAs with clinical characteristics of iCMP and evaluated their diagnostic performance in suspected iCMP., Methods and Results: Eighty-nine patients with clinical suspicion of iCMP were included in the analysis. All patients underwent cardiac catheterization with left ventricular endomyocardial biopsy, echocardiography, and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging applying the Lake Louise criteria (LLC). Plasma levels of miR-21, miR-126, miR-133a, miR-146b, miR-155, and miR-206 were determined using real-time polymerase chain reaction. Based on immunohistological findings on endomyocardial biopsy, iCMP was diagnosed in 67% of study participants (n = 60). Plasma levels of miR-155 and miR-206 were significantly increased in patients with iCMP as compared with patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (P = 0.008 and P = 0.009, respectively). In receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, miR-155 and miR-206 demonstrated superior diagnostic performance for iCMP (0.68 and 0.67, respectively) compared with LLC [area under the curve (AUC) 0.60], Troponin T (AUC 0.51), and N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (AUC 0.51). While baseline miR-155 and miR-206 plasma levels were predictive for biopsy-proven iCMP (odds ratio = 2.61, 95% confidence interval = 1.28-5.31, P = 0.008 and odds ratio = 2.65, 95% confidence interval = 1.27-5.52, P = 0.009) on univariate logistic regression analysis, the presence of positive LLC, high baseline C-reactive protein, or presence of clinical symptoms and signs of viral infection failed to predict iCMP (P > 0.05, respectively)., Conclusions: The present data suggest that plasma levels of miR-206 and miR-155 are potential novel biomarkers for confirming the diagnosis of iCMP., (© 2021 The Authors. ESC Heart Failure published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Society of Cardiology.)

Background: Regional flow volume loop ventilation-weighted noncontrast-enhanced proton lung MRI in free breathing has emerged as a novel technique for assessment of regional lung ventilation, but has yet not been validated with 129 Xenon MRI ( 129 Xe-MRI), a direct visualization of ventilation in healthy volunteers, cystic fibrosis (CF), and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients., Purpose: To compare regional ventilation and regional flow volume loops measured by noncontrast-enhanced ventilation-weighted phase-resolved functional lung MRI (PREFUL-MRI) with 129 Xe-MRI ventilation imaging and with lung function test parameters., Study Type: Retrospective study., Population: Twenty patients with COPD, eight patients with CF, and six healthy volunteers., Field Strength/sequence: PREFUL and 129 Xe-MRI gradient echo sequences were acquired at 1.5T., Assessment: Coronal slices of PREFUL-MRI (free breathing) and 129 Xe-MRI (single breath-hold) were acquired on the same day, matched by their ventrodorsal position and coregistered for evaluation. Ventilation defect percentage (VDP) was calculated based on regional ventilation (RV), regional flow volume loops (RFVL), or 129 Xe-MRI with two different threshold methods. A combined VDP was calculated for RV and RFVL. Additionally, lung function testing was performed (such as the forced expiratory volume in 1 second [FEV 1 ]) was used., Statistical Tests: The obtained parameters were compared using Wilcoxon tests, correlated using Spearman's correlation coefficient (r), and agreement between PREFUL and 129 Xe-MRI parameters was assessed using Bland-Altman analysis and Dice coefficients., Results: VDP measured by PREFUL and 129 Xe were significantly correlated with both thresholding techniques (r = 0.62-0.69, P < 0.05 for all) and with lung function test parameters. Combined RV and RFVL PREFUL defect maps correlated with lung function testing (eg, with FEV 1 r = -0.87 P < 0.05), and showed better regional agreement to 129 Xe-MRI ventilation defects (Dice coefficient defect 0.413) with significantly higher VDP values (10.2 ± 27.3, P = 0.04) than either PREFUL defect map alone., Data Conclusion: Combined RV and RFVL PREFUL defect maps likely increase sensitivity to mild airway obstruction with increased VDP values compared to 129 Xe-MRI, and correlate strongly with lung function test parameters., Level of Evidence: 3 TECHNICAL EFFICACY STAGE: 2., (© 2020 The Authors. Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.)

Purpose: The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the feasibility of a motion correction 3D reconstruction prototype technique for C-arm computed tomography (CACT)., Material and Methods: We included 65 consecutive CACTs acquired during transarterial chemoembolization of 54 patients (47 m,7f; 67 ± 11.3 years). All original raw datasets (CACT Org ) underwent reconstruction with and without volume punching of high-contrast objects using a 3D image reconstruction software to compensate for motion (CACT MC&#95;bone ;CACT MC&#95;no bone ). Subsequently, the effect on image quality (IQ) was evaluated using objective (image sharpness metric) and subjective criteria. Subjective criteria were defined by vessel geometry, overall IQ, delineation of tumor feeders, the presence of foreign material-induced artifacts and need for additional imaging, assessed by two independent readers on a 3-(vessel geometry and overall IQ) or 2-point scale, respectively. Friedman rank-sum test and post hoc analysis in form of pairwise Wilcoxon signed-rank test were computed and inter-observer agreement analyzed using kappa test., Results: Objective IQ as defined by an image sharpness metric, increased from 273.5 ± 28 (CACT Org ) to 328.5 ± 55.1 (CACT MC&#95;bone ) and 331 ± 57.8 (CACT MC&#95;no bone ; all p < 0.0001). These results could largely be confirmed by the subjective analysis, which demonstrated predominantly good and moderate inter-observer agreement, with best agreement for CACT MC&#95;no bone in all categories (e.g., vessel geometry: CACT Org : κ = 0.51, CACT MC&#95;bone : κ = 0.42, CACT MC&#95;no bone : κ = 0.69)., Conclusion: The application of a motion correction algorithm was feasible for all data sets and led to an increase in both objective and subjective IQ parameters., Level of Evidence: 3.

Objectives: To test the accuracy of clinical pre-test probability (PTP) for prediction of obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) in a pan-European setting., Methods: Patients with suspected CAD and stable chest pain who were clinically referred for invasive coronary angiography (ICA) or computed tomography (CT) were included by clinical sites participating in the pilot study of the European multi-centre DISCHARGE trial. PTP of CAD was determined using the Diamond-Forrester (D+F) prediction model initially introduced in 1979 and the updated D+F model from 2011. Obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) was defined by one at least 50% diameter coronary stenosis by both CT and ICA., Results: In total, 1440 patients (654 female, 786 male) were included at 25 clinical sites from May 2014 until July 2017. Of these patients, 725 underwent CT, while 715 underwent ICA. Both prediction models overestimated the prevalence of obstructive CAD (31.7%, 456 of 1440 patients, PTP: initial D+F 58.9% (28.1-90.6%), updated D+F 47.3% (34.2-59.9%), both p < 0.001), but overestimation of disease prevalence was higher for the initial D+F (p < 0.001). The discriminative ability was higher for the updated D+F 2011 (AUC of 0.73 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.70-0.76 versus AUC of 0.70 CI 0.67-0.73 for the initial D+F; p < 0.001; odds ratio (or) 1.55 CI 1.29-1.86, net reclassification index 0.11 CI 0.05-0.16, p < 0.001)., Conclusions: Clinical PTP calculation using the initial and updated D+F prediction models relevantly overestimates the actual prevalence of obstructive CAD in patients with stable chest pain clinically referred for ICA and CT suggesting that further refinements to improve clinical decision-making are needed., Trial Registration: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02400229 KEY POINTS: • Clinical pre-test probability calculation using the initial and updated D+F model overestimates the prevalence of obstructive CAD identified by ICA and CT. • Overestimation of disease prevalence is higher for the initial D+F compared with the updated D+F. • Diagnostic accuracy of PTP assessment varies strongly between different clinical sites throughout Europe.

Purpose:  The DRG-ÖRG IRP (Deutsche Röntgengesellschaft-Österreichische Röntgengesellschaft international radiomics platform) represents a web-/cloud-based radiomics platform based on a public-private partnership. It offers the possibility of data sharing, annotation, validation and certification in the field of artificial intelligence, radiomics analysis, and integrated diagnostics. In a first proof-of-concept study, automated myocardial segmentation and automated myocardial late gadolinum enhancement (LGE) detection using radiomic image features will be evaluated for myocarditis data sets., Materials and Methods:  The DRG-ÖRP IRP can be used to create quality-assured, structured image data in combination with clinical data and subsequent integrated data analysis and is characterized by the following performance criteria: Possibility of using multicentric networked data, automatically calculated quality parameters, processing of annotation tasks, contour recognition using conventional and artificial intelligence methods and the possibility of targeted integration of algorithms. In a first study, a neural network pre-trained using cardiac CINE data sets was evaluated for segmentation of PSIR data sets. In a second step, radiomic features were applied for segmental detection of LGE of the same data sets, which were provided multicenter via the IRP., Results:  First results show the advantages (data transparency, reliability, broad involvement of all members, continuous evolution as well as validation and certification) of this platform-based approach. In the proof-of-concept study, the neural network demonstrated a Dice coefficient of 0.813 compared to the expert's segmentation of the myocardium. In the segment-based myocardial LGE detection, the AUC was 0.73 and 0.79 after exclusion of segments with uncertain annotation.The evaluation and provision of the data takes place at the IRP, taking into account the FAT (fairness, accountability, transparency) and FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable) criteria., Conclusion:  It could be shown that the DRG-ÖRP IRP can be used as a crystallization point for the generation of further individual and joint projects. The execution of quantitative analyses with artificial intelligence methods is greatly facilitated by the platform approach of the DRG-ÖRP IRP, since pre-trained neural networks can be integrated and scientific groups can be networked.In a first proof-of-concept study on automated segmentation of the myocardium and automated myocardial LGE detection, these advantages were successfully applied.Our study shows that with the DRG-ÖRP IRP, strategic goals can be implemented in an interdisciplinary way, that concrete proof-of-concept examples can be demonstrated, and that a large number of individual and joint projects can be realized in a participatory way involving all groups., Key Points:   · The DRG-ÖRG IRP is a web/cloud-based radiomics platform based on a public-private partnership.. · The DRG-ÖRG IRP can be used for the creation of quality-assured, structured image data in combination with clinical data and subsequent integrated data analysis.. · First results show the applicability of left ventricular myocardial segmentation using a neural network and segment-based LGE detection using radiomic image features.. · The DRG-ÖRG IRP offers the possibility of integrating pre-trained neural networks and networking of scientific groups.., Citation Format: · Overhoff D, Kohlmann P, Frydrychowicz A et al. The International Radiomics Platform - An Initiative of the German and Austrian Radiological Societies. Fortschr Röntgenstr 2021; 193: 276 - 287., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (Thieme. All rights reserved.)

Background: Arterial hypertension is the most common comorbidity in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and mediates adverse hemodynamics through related aortic stiffness and increased pulsatile load. We aimed to investigate the clinical and hemodynamic implications of renal sympathetic denervation (RDN) in patients with HFpEF and uncontrolled arterial hypertension., Methods: Patients undergoing RDN between 2011 and 2018 in a single-center were retrospectively analyzed and classified as HFpEF (n=99) or no HF (n=65). Stroke volume index and aortic distensibility were measured through cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, and left ventricular (LV) systolic and diastolic properties were assessed echocardiographically., Results: At baseline, patients with HFpEF had higher stroke volume index (median 40 [interquartile range, 33-48] versus 33 [26-40] mL/m 2 , P =0.002), pulse pressure (69 [63-77] versus 61 [55-67] mm Hg, P <0.001), but lower LV-VPES 100mm Hg (18 [10-28] versus 24 [15-40] mL, P =0.007) and aortic distensibility (1.5 [1.1-2.6] versus 2.7 [1.1-3.5] 10 -3 mm Hg -1 , P =0.013) as compared to no-HF patients. Systolic blood pressure decreased comparable in patients with HFpEF and no-HF patients following RDN (-9 [-16 to -2], P <0.001). After RDN stroke volume index (-3 [-9 to +3] mL/m 2 , P =0.011) decreased and aortic distensibility (0.2 [-0.1 to +1.1] 10 -3 mm Hg -1 , P =0.007) and systolic stiffness ( P <0.001) increased in HFpEF patients. LV diastolic stiffness and LV filling pressures as well as NT-proBNP (N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide) decreased after RDN in patients with HFpEF ( P =0.032, P =0.043, and P <0.001, respectively)., Conclusions: Patients with HFpEF undergoing RDN showed increased stroke volume index, vascular, and LV stiffness as compared to no-HF patients. Following RDN those hemodynamic alterations and reduced systolic and diastolic LV stiffness were partly normalized, implying RDN might be a potential therapeutic strategy for arterial hypertension and HFpEF.

Background: Cardiac magnetic resonance myocardial feature tracking (CMR-FT)-derived global strain assessments provide incremental prognostic information in patients following acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Functional analyses of the remote myocardium (RM) are scarce and whether they provide an additional prognostic value in these patients is unknown., Methods: 1034 patients following acute myocardial infarction were included. CMR imaging and strain analyses as well as infarct size quantification were performed after reperfusion by primary percutaneous coronary intervention. The occurrence of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) within 12 months after the index event was defined as primary clinical endpoint., Results: Patients with MACE had significantly lower RM circumferential strain (CS) compared to those without MACE. A cutoff value for RM CS of - 25.8% best identified high-risk patients (p < 0.001 on log-rank testing) and impaired RM CS was a strong predictor of MACE (HR 1.05, 95% CI 1.07-1.14, p = 0.003). RM CS provided further risk stratification among patients considered at risk according to established CMR parameters for (1) patients with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) ≤ 35% (p = 0.038 on log-rank testing), (2) patients with reduced global circumferential strain (GCS) > -  18.3% (p = 0.015 on log-rank testing), and (3) patients with large microvascular obstruction ≥ 1.46% (p = 0.002 on log-rank testing)., Conclusion: CMR-FT-derived RM CS is a useful parameter to characterize the response of the remote myocardium and allows improved stratification following AMI beyond commonly used parameters, especially of high-risk patients., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT00712101 and NCT01612312 Defining remote segments (R) in the presence of infarct areas (I) for the analysis of remote circumferential strain (CS). Remote CS was significantly lower in patients who suffered major adverse cardiac events (MACE) and a cutoff value for remote CS of - 25.8% best identified high-risk patients. In addition, impaired remote CS ≥ - 25.8 % (Remote -) and preserved remote CS < - 25.8 % (Remote +) enabled further risk stratification when added to established parameters like left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), global circumferential strain (GCS) or microvascular obstruction (MVO).

Background: Adipose tissue as part of body composition analysis may serve as a powerful biomarker. Validation of segmented adipose tissue and correlation to clinical data has been performed on non-enhanced scans (NES). As many patients require a contrast enhanced scan (CES) for other aspects of clinical decision making, the utility of CES for body composition analysis would be most useful. Therefore, we analyzed the influence of iodinated contrast medium (ICM) and contrast phase on the characterization and segmentation of adipose tissue., Methods: Exams of 31 patients undergoing multi-phasic CT at identical scan settings containing an NES were retrospectively included. In addition to NES, patients received an arterial (ART) (n=23), portal-venous (PVN) (n=10), and/or venous scan (VEN) (n=31) after intravenous injection of 90 mL ICM. Density and volume of adipose tissue were quantified semi-automatically with thresholds between -190 HU and -30 HU and recorded separately for visceral (VAT) and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT). Density and volume of total adipose tissue (TAT) were computed. For conversion of values from CES into those of NES regression analyses were performed and tested., Results: Density of adipose tissue increased after application of ICM more on later scans (VEN ≈ PVN > ART) and more markedly in VAT than SAT (VAT > TAT > SAT). Except in SAT on ART, all changes were significant (P<0.001). Measured volume of adipose tissue decreased on all CES (VEN ≈ PVN > ART) (P<0.001), but only reached statistical significance for VAT and TAT (VAT > TAT) on all CES (P<0.05). Density and volume in CES correlate extremely well with NES and may be calculated from one another [root-mean-square error (RMSE): <6 HU; <0.85 dm 3 ]., Conclusions: Density and volume of segmented adipose tissue are altered by the injection of ICM in differing degrees between compartments and contrast phases. However, as the effect of ICM is fairly constant for a given compartment and contrast phase, values may be converted into those of NES with relative precession. This conversion allows body composition analysis to be carried out also in contrast enhanced CT examinations, e.g., for risk stratification and the comparison of the obtained results to previous studies., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at http://dx.doi.org/10.21037/qims-20-907). The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (2021 Quantitative Imaging in Medicine and Surgery. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: To test the feasibility of 3D phase-resolved functional lung (PREFUL) MRI in healthy volunteers and patients with chronic pulmonary disease, to compare 3D to 2D PREFUL, and to investigate the required temporal resolution to obtain stable 3D PREFUL measurement., Methods: Sixteen participants underwent MRI using 2D and 3D PREFUL. Retrospectively, the spatial resolution of 3D PREFUL (4 × 4 × 4 mm 3 ) was decreased to match the spatial resolution of 2D PREFUL (4 × 4 × 15 mm 3 ), abbreviated as 3D lowres . In addition to regional ventilation (RVent), flow-volume loops were computed and rated by a cross-correlation (CC). Ventilation defect percentage (VDP) maps were obtained. RVent, CC, VDP RVent , and VDP CC were compared for systematic differences between 2D, 3D lowres , and 3D PREFUL. Dividing the 3D PREFUL data into 4- (≈ 20 phases), 8- (≈ 40 phases), and 12-min (≈ 60 phases) acquisition pieces, the ventilation parameter maps, including the heterogeneity of ventilation time to peak, were tested regarding the required temporal resolution., Results: RVent, CC, VDP RVent , and VDP CC  presented significant correlations between 2D and 3D PREFUL (r = 0.64-0.94). CC and VDP CC  of 2D and 3D lowres  PREFUL were significantly different (P < .0113). Comparing 3D lowres  and 3D PREFUL, all parameters were found to be statistically different (P < .0045)., Conclusion: 3D PREFUL MRI depicts the whole lung volume and breathing cycle with superior image resolution and with likely more precision compared to 2D PREFUL. Furthermore, 3D PREFUL is more sensitive to detect regions of hypoventilation and ventilation heterogeneity compared to 3D lowres  PREFUL, which is important for early detection and improved monitoring of patients with chronic lung disease., (© 2020 The Authors. Magnetic Resonance in Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.)

The aim of the study was to identify the features of coronary lesions and to determine the correlation between the main risk factors for coronary artery disease according to the SCORE quality of life scale and the calcium index in MSCT in different age and ethnic groups in men and women living in Kazakhstan. We retrospectively analyzed 935 case histories of patients undergoing MSCT to assess the condition of the coronary arteries. The patients were divided into three groups: Kazakhs (66.9%), Russians (21.4%) and other (11.7%) nationalities. There were statistically significant differences between ethnic groups in BMI (p=0.03), type of chest pain (p<0.01), statin use (p=0.01), and blood glucose (p<0.01). The study showed that the prevalence of coronary atherosclerosis is higher among Russians compared to Kazakhs, even after adjusting for traditional risk factors. In multivariate analysis, the calcium index values ​​were significantly higher in the group of the Russian population by 48% (OR=1.48; 95% CI 0.91-2.40) than in the Kazakh population. In the course of the cross-sectional study, statistically significant differences in the nature of coronary lesions were revealed between ethnic groups, mainly males, living in the Republic. Until now, such studies have not yet been conducted among the inhabitants of Kazakhstan, and data on the ethnic specificity of risk factors for cardiovascular diseases in this geographical region have not been sufficiently studied. Previous studies have shown that East Asians, including Chinese, Koreans, and Japanese, have a lower incidence of coronary artery disease as measured by CI compared to Europeans. A large MESA study also reported observations that study participants of Chinese nationality had a lower CI compared to Europeans. Despite significant differences in dietary habits and living in different climatic conditions between Asians of different countries, lower CI scores appear to be a racial trait of Asians, which was further confirmed by our study. These results are undoubtedly representative, as patients from different regions of Kazakhstan were treated in two clinics of republican significance. In the future, it is necessary to conduct prospective studies with subsequent follow-up of patients after treatment and in identifying the causes of recurrent coronary events, as was done in the MESA study.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the influence of different field strengths on perfusion and ventilation parameters, SNR and CNR derived by PREFUL MRI using predefined sequence parameters., Methods: Data sets of free breathing 2d FLASH lung MRI were acquired from 15 healthy subjects at 1.5T and 3T (Magnetom Avanto and Skyra, Siemens Healthcare, Erlangen, Germany) with a maximum period of 3 days in between. The processed functional parameters regional ventilation (RVent), perfusion (Q), quantified perfusion (QQuant), perfusion defect percentage (QDP), ventilation defect percentage (VDP) and ventilation-perfusion match (VQM) were compared for systematic differences. Signal- and contrast-to-noise ratio (SNR and CNR) of both acquisitions were analyzed., Results: RVent, Q, VDP, SNR and CNR presented no significant differences between 1.5T and 3T. QQuant (1.5T vs. 3T, P = 0.04), and QDP (1.5T vs. 3T, P≤0.01) decreased significantly at 3T. Consequently, VQM increased significantly (1.5T vs. 3T, P≤0.01). Skewness and kurtosis of the Q-values increased significantly at 3T (P≤0.01). The mean Sørensen-Dice coefficients between both series were 0.91 for QDP and 0.94 for VDP. The Bland-Altman analysis of both series showed mean differences of 4.29% for QDP, 1.23% for VDP and -5.15% for VQM. Using the above-mentioned parameters for three-day repeatability at two different scanners and field strengths, the retrospective power calculation showed, that a sample size of 15 can detect differences of 3.7% for QDP, of 2.9% for VDP and differences of 2.6% for VQM., Conclusion: Significant differences in QDP may be related to field inhomogeneities, which is expressed by increasing skewness and kurtosis at 3T. QQuant reveals only poor reproducibility between 1.5T and 3T. RVent, Q, VDP, SNR and CNR were not altered significantly at the used sequence parameters. Healthy participants with minimal defects present high spatial agreement of QDP and VDP., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Background: Pathophysiological differences in relief of pulmonary stenosis (PS) as opposed to pulmonary regurgitation (PR) by percutaneous pulmonary valve implantation (PPVI) remain elusive, but might impact current assessment of procedural success and ultimately indications., Methods: Invasive pressure measurements, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging and cardiopulmonary exercise testing were performed before pre-stenting (BMS), after BMS and after PPVI in patients with either PS or PR., Results: In PS (n = 14), BMS reduced the right ventricular (RV) to systemic pressure ratio (0.8 ± 0.2 vs. 0.4 ± 0.1%; p < .01), improved RF EF (53 ± 14 vs. 59 ± 12%; p = .01) but introduced free PR (PR fraction post 39 ± 12%; p < .01) with no changes in effective RV stroke volume (SV). PPVI eliminated PR (PR fraction 5 ± 3%; p < .01) and improved effective RV SV (p < .01) with no changes in RV EF (p = .47). Peak VO2 improved significantly after BMS, with no changes following PPVI (26 ± 9 vs. 30 ± 11 vs. 31 ± 10 ml/kg*min). In PR (n = 14), BMS exaggerated PR (PR fraction post 47 ± 10) with reduction in effective RV SV (pre 43 ± 9 vs. post 38 ± 8 ml/m 2 ; p = .01), which improved after PPVI (post PPVI 49 ± 9 ml/m 2 ; p < .01), secondary to elimination of PR (PR fraction 5 ± 4%; p < .01). RV EF (pre 53 ± 11 vs. post 53 ± 9 vs. post PPVI 50 ± 9%) and Peak VO2 (pre 22 ± 7 vs. post 21 ± 7 vs. post PPVI 23 ± 7 ml/kg*min) remained unchanged., Conclusions: Exercise capacity in patients with right ventricular outflow tract dysfunction is primarily afterload-dependent., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

To assess whether MR diffusion imaging may be applied for non-invasive detection of renal changes correlating with clinical diagnosis of acute kidney injury (AKI) in patients after lung transplantation (lutx).Fifty-four patients (mean age 49.6, range 26-64 years) after lutx were enrolled in a prospective clinical study and underwent functional MR imaging of the kidneys in the early postoperative period. Baseline s-creatinine ranged from 39 to 112 μmol/L. For comparison, 14 healthy volunteers (mean age 42.1, range 24-59 years) underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) using the same protocol. Renal tissue injury was evaluated using quantification of diffusion and diffusion anisotropy with diffusion-weighted (DWI) and diffusion-tensor imaging (DTI). Renal function was monitored and AKI was defined according to Acute-Kidney-Injury-Network criteria. Statistical analysis comprised one-way ANOVA and Pearson correlation.67% of lutx patients (36/54) developed AKI, 47% (17/36) had AKI stage 1, 42% (15/36) AKI stage 2, and 8% (3/36) severe AKI stage 3. Renal apparent diffusion coefficients (ADCs) were reduced in patients with AKI, but preserved in transplant patients without AKI and healthy volunteers (2.07 ± 0.02 vs 2.18 ± 0.05 vs 2.21 ± 0.03 × 10 mm/s, P < .05). Diffusion anisotropy was reduced in all lutx recipients compared with healthy volunteers (AKI: 0.27 ± 0.01 vs no AKI: 0.28 ± 0.01 vs healthy: 0.33 ± 0.02; P < .01). Reduction of renal ADC correlated significantly with acute loss of renal function after lutx (decrease of renal function in the postoperative period and glomerular filtration rate on the day of MRI).MR diffusion imaging enables non-invasive assessment of renal changes correlating with AKI early after lutx. Reduction of diffusion anisotropy was present in all patients after lutx, whereas marked reduction of renal ADC was observed only in the group of lutx recipients with AKI and correlated with renal function impairment.

Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR)-derived left ventricular (LV) global longitudinal strain (GLS) provides incremental prognostic information on various cardiovascular diseases but has not yet been investigated comprehensively in patients with Takotsubo syndrome (TS). This study evaluated the prognostic value of feature tracking (FT) GLS, tissue tracking (TT) GLS, and fast manual long axis strain (LAS) in 147 patients with TS, who underwent CMR at a median of 2 days after admission. Long-term mortality was assessed 3 years after the acute event. In contrast to LV ejection fraction and tissue characteristics, impaired FT-GLS, TT-GLS and fast manual LAS were associated with adverse outcome. The best cutoff points for the prediction of long-term mortality were similar with all three approaches: FT-GLS -11.28%, TT-GLS -11.45%, and fast manual LAS -10.86%. Long-term mortality rates were significantly higher in patients with FT-GLS > -11.28% (25.0% versus 9.8%; p = 0.029), TT-GLS > -11.45% (20.0% versus 5.4%; p = 0.016), and LAS > -10.86% (23.3% versus 6.6%; p = 0.014). However, in multivariable analysis, diabetes mellitus ( p = 0.001), atrial fibrillation ( p = 0.001), malignancy ( p = 0.006), and physical triggers ( p = 0.006) outperformed measures of myocardial strain and emerged as the strongest, independent predictors of long-term mortality in TS. In conclusion, CMR-based longitudinal strain provides valuable prognostic information in patients with TS, regardless of the utilized technique of assessment. Long-term mortality, however, is mainly determined by comorbidities.

Purpose: To assess current use and acute safety profiles of gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs) in cardiac MRI given recent suspensions of GBCA approval., Materials and Methods: Patients were retrospectively included from the multinational multicenter European Society of Cardiovascular Radiology (ESCR) MR/CT Registry collected between January 2013 and October 2019. GBCA-associated acute adverse events (AAEs) were classified as mild (self-limiting), moderate (pronounced AAE requiring medical management), and severe (life threatening). Multivariable generalized linear mixed-effect models were used to assess AAE likelihood., Results: A total of 154 779 patients (average age, 53 years ± 19 [standard deviation]; 99 106 men) who underwent cardiac MRI were included, the majority of whom underwent administration of GBCAs (94.2% [ n = 145 855]). While linear GBCAs were used in 15.2% of examinations through 2011, their use decreased to less than 1% in 2018 and 2019. Overall, 0.36% ( n = 556) of AAEs were documented (mild, 0.12% [ n = 178]; moderate, 0.21% [ n = 331]; severe, 0.03% [ n = 47]). For nonenhanced cardiac MRI, examination-related events were reported in 2.59% (231 of 8924) of cases, the majority of which were anxiety (0.98% [ n = 87]) and dyspnea (0.93% [ n = 83]). AAE rates varied significantly by pharmacologic stressor, GBCA molecular structure (macrocyclic vs linear GBCA: multivariable odds ratio, 0.634; 95% confidence interval: 0.452, 0.888; P = .008), GBCA subtype, and imaging indication., Conclusion: Gadolinium-based contrast agent administration changed according to recent regulatory decisions, with use of macrocyclic agents almost exclusively in 2018 and 2019; these agents also demonstrated a favorable acute safety profile. Supplemental material is available for this article. © RSNA, 2020., Competing Interests: Disclosures of Conflicts of Interest: J.U. Activities related to the present article: disclosed no relevant relationships. Activities not related to the present article: received a speaker fee from Bayer HealthCare. Other relationships: disclosed no relevant relationships. O.A. disclosed no relevant relationships. R.S. disclosed no relevant relationships. M.F. disclosed no relevant relationships. R.V. disclosed no relevant relationships. J.B. disclosed no relevant relationships. J.L. disclosed no relevant relationships. M.G. Activities related to the present article: disclosed no relevant relationships. Activities not related to the present article: received a speaker honorarium and travel support from Bayer HealthCare, Bracco Imaging, Siemens HealthCare, Philips Healthcare, GE Healthcare, and Circle Health. Other relationships: disclosed no relevant relationships., (2020 by the Radiological Society of North America, Inc.)

Aims: The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility, efficacy and safety of the bioprosthetic or native aortic scallop intentional laceration to prevent iatrogenic coronary artery obstruction (BASILICA) technique during transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) in an initial cohort at a single European centre., Methods and Results: Between August 2018 and March 2020, BASILICA was attempted in 23 leaflets in 21 consecutive patients undergoing TAVI (age 78±6 years, 52% female). The index procedure was performed for 21 degenerated bioprosthetic leaflets (90%, 9.2±2.6 years after implantation) and two native leaflets (10%). BASILICA was performed for a single leaflet in 19 (90%) patients and for both leaflets in two (10%) patients. The median total procedure time was 82 (interquartile range [IQR] 70-131) minutes, and BASILICA time (sheath-in to laceration) was 45 (IQR 35-67) minutes. A cerebral embolic protection device was used in 20 (95%) patients. BASILICA was feasible in all but one patient (95%) and resulted in effective prevention of coronary obstruction in 19 patients (90%). One patient developed a non-flow-limiting ostial lesion after BASILICA and TAVI, and was treated by additional coronary stenting. No mortality or stroke was observed up to 30 days., Conclusions: The feasibility, efficacy and safety of BASILICA in this early single-centre experience were consistent with the initial proof-of-concept reports. Further validation by ongoing multicentre registries remains warranted.

Aim: To investigate the observer agreement for the assessment of chronic myocarditis by native T1 and T2 relaxation times, post-contrast T1 relaxation time, and extracellular volume (ECV) fraction, compared to Lake Louise Criteria: oedema ratio (OR) and early gadolinium enhancement ratio (EGEr)., Materials and Methods: Data were collected retrospectively on 71 consecutive patients who underwent cardiac magnetic resonance imaging as part of a complete diagnostic work-up according to current guidelines for suspected myocarditis. Thirteen cases were excluded due to previous myocardial infarction or technical issues. To test for intra- and interobserver agreement, the determination of the myocardial native T1 and T2 relaxation times, post-contrast T1 relaxation time, ECV, OR and EGEr was undertaken by two medical school graduates after comprehensive training. Bland-Altman analysis and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) were assessed., Results: The final analysis included 27 patients with chronic myocarditis, 21 patients with dilated cardiomyopathy and/or hypertensive heart disease, and 10 patients with unremarkable investigations in the control group. Excellent interobserver agreement was obtained for native T1 and T2 relaxation times, post-contrast T1 relaxation time and ECV, with ICC of 0.982/0.977/0.991/0.994, p < 0.001. Interobserver agreement was lower for OR and EGEr, with ICC of 0.841 and 0.818, p < 0.001, respectively. Mapping parameters (cut-off values: T1 1,070 ms, T2 54 ms, ECV 30%) yield good performance in the diagnosis of chronic myocarditis with the best sensitivity/specificity/accuracy of 93%/80%/88% for ECV, followed by 70%/80%/74% for T2, and 52%/88%/69% for T1., Conclusions: mapping parameters show excellent agreement between observers in the assessment of myocarditis., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Purpose: To investigate the diffusion of hyperpolarized 129 Xe in air spaces at short-time scales for determination of lung surface-to-gas-volume ratio in comparison to results from chemical shift saturation recovery, CT, and established clinical measures., Methods: A pulse sequence for measurement of time-dependent diffusion of 129 Xe in air spaces at short diffusion times was developed. Gas uptake into lung tissue was measured in the same breathhold using chemical shift saturation recovery spectroscopy in the short-time regime. The potential to obtain the surface-to-gas-volume ratio using a first-order and second-order approximation of the short-time expansion of time-dependent diffusion according to Mitra et al 11 and its diagnostic relevance were tested in a study with 9 chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases patients., Results: Surface-to-gas-volume ratios obtained from time-dependent diffusion were correlated with results from chemical shift saturation recovery, r = 0.840, P = .005 (first-order fits), and r = 0.923, P < .001 (second-order fits), and from CT results for second-order fits, r = 0.729, P = .026. Group means ± SD were 75.0 ± 15.5 cm -1 (first-order fits) and 122.3 ± 32.8 cm -1 (second-order fits) for time-dependent diffusion, 125.9 ± 43.3 cm -1 for chemical shift saturation recovery, and 159.5 ± 50.9 cm -1 for CT. Surface-to-gas-volume ratios from time-dependent diffusion with first-order fits correlated significantly with carbon monoxide diffusing capacity as percent of prediction, r = 0.724, P = .028., Conclusion: Time-dependent diffusion measurements of 129 Xe at short-time scales down to ~1 ms are feasible in chronic obstructive pulmonary patients and provide clinically relevant information on lung microstructure., (© 2020 The Authors. Magnetic Resonance in Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.)

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2019 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic currently constitutes a significant burden on worldwide health care systems, with important implications on many levels, including radiology departments. Given the established fundamental role of cardiovascular imaging in modern healthcare, and the specific value of cardiopulmonary radiology in COVID-19 patients, departmental organisation and imaging programs need to be restructured during the pandemic in order to provide access to modern cardiovascular services to both infected and non-infected patients while ensuring safety for healthcare professionals. The uninterrupted availability of cardiovascular radiology services remains, particularly during the current pandemic outbreak, crucial for the initial evaluation and further follow-up of patients with suspected or known cardiovascular diseases in order to avoid unnecessary complications. Suspected or established COVID-19 patients may also have concomitant cardiovascular symptoms and require further imaging investigations. This statement by the European Society of Cardiovascular Radiology (ESCR) provides information on measures for safety of healthcare professionals and recommendations for cardiovascular imaging during the pandemic in both non-infected and COVID-19 patients.

Background: Gadolinium-based contrast agents were not approved in the United States for detecting coronary artery disease (CAD) prior to the current studies., Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine the sensitivity and specificity of gadobutrol for detection of CAD by assessing myocardial perfusion and late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) imaging., Methods: Two international, single-vendor, phase 3 clinical trials of near identical design, "GadaCAD1" and "GadaCAD2," were performed. Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) included gadobutrol-enhanced first-pass vasodilator stress and rest perfusion followed by LGE imaging. CAD was defined by quantitative coronary angiography (QCA) but computed tomography coronary angiography could exclude significant CAD., Results: Because the design and results for GadaCAD1 (n = 376) and GadaCAD2 (n = 388) were very similar, results were summarized as a fixed-effect meta-analysis (n = 764). The prevalence of CAD was 27.8% defined by a ≥70% QCA stenosis. For detection of a ≥70% QCA stenosis, the sensitivity of CMR was 78.9%, specificity was 86.8%, and area under the curve was 0.871. The sensitivity and specificity for multivessel CAD was 87.4% and 73.0%. For detection of a 50% QCA stenosis, sensitivity was 64.6% and specificity was 86.6%. The optimal threshold for detecting CAD was a ≥67% QCA stenosis in GadaCAD1 and ≥63% QCA stenosis in GadaCAD2., Conclusions: Vasodilator stress and rest myocardial perfusion CMR and LGE imaging had high diagnostic accuracy for CAD in 2 phase 3 clinical trials. These findings supported the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of gadobutrol-enhanced CMR (0.1 mmol/kg) to assess myocardial perfusion and LGE in adult patients with known or suspected CAD., (Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Background Cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging is considered the reference methodology for cardiac morphology and function but requires manual postprocessing. Whether novel artificial intelligence-based automated analyses deliver similar information for risk stratification is unknown. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate feasibility and prognostic implications of artificial intelligence-based, commercially available software analyses. Methods and Results Cardiovascular magnetic resonance data (n=1017 patients) from 2 myocardial infarction multicenter trials were included. Analyses of biventricular parameters including ejection fraction (EF) were manually and automatically assessed using conventional and artificial intelligence-based software. Obtained parameters entered regression analyses for prediction of major adverse cardiac events, defined as death, reinfarction, or congestive heart failure, within 1 year after the acute event. Both manual and uncorrected automated volumetric assessments showed similar impact on outcome in univariate analyses (left ventricular EF, manual: hazard ratio [HR], 0.93 [95% CI 0.91-0.95]; P <0.001; automated: HR, 0.94 [95% CI, 0.92-0.96]; P <0.001) and multivariable analyses (left ventricular EF, manual: HR, 0.95 [95% CI, 0.92-0.98]; P =0.001; automated: HR, 0.95 [95% CI, 0.92-0.98]; P =0.001). Manual correction of the automated contours did not lead to improved risk prediction (left ventricular EF, area under the curve: 0.67 automated versus 0.68 automated corrected; P =0.49). There was acceptable agreement (left ventricular EF: bias, 2.6%; 95% limits of agreement, -9.1% to 14.2%; intraclass correlation coefficient, 0.88 [95% CI, 0.77-0.93]) of manual and automated volumetric assessments. Conclusions User-independent volumetric analyses performed by fully automated software are feasible, and results are equally predictive of major adverse cardiac events compared with conventional analyses in patients following myocardial infarction. Registration URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov; Unique identifiers: NCT00712101 and NCT01612312.

Objective: Right ventricular (RV) involvement complicating myocardial infarction (MI) is thought to impact prognosis, but potent RV markers for risk stratification are lacking. Therefore, the aim of this trial was to assess the frequency and prognostic implications of concomitant structural and functional RV injury in MI., Methods: Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) was performed in 1235 patients with MI (ST-elevation myocardial infarction: n=795; non-STEMI: n=440) 3 days after reperfusion by primary percutaneous coronary intervention. Central core laboratory-masked analyses included structural (oedema representing reversible ischaemia, irreversible infarction, microvascular obstruction (MVO)) and functional (ejection fraction, global longitudinal strain (GLS)) RV alterations. The clinical end point was the 12-month rate of major adverse cardiac events (MACE)., Results: RV ischaemia and infarction were observed in 19.6% and 12.1% of patients, respectively, suggesting complete myocardial salvage in one-third of patients. RV ischaemia was associated with a significantly increased risk of MACE (10.1% vs 6.2%; p=0.035), while patients with RV infarction showed only numerically increased event rates (p=0.075). RV MVO was observed in 2.4% and not linked to outcome (p=0.894). Stratification according to median RV GLS (10.2% vs 3.8%; p<0.001) but not RV ejection fraction (p=0.175) resulted in elevated MACE rates. Multivariable analysis including clinical and left ventricular MI characteristics identified RV GLS as an independent predictor of outcome (HR 1.05, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.09; p=0.034) in addition to age (p=0.001), Killip class (p=0.020) and left ventricular GLS (p=0.001), while RV ischaemia was not independently associated with outcome., Conclusions: RV GLS is a predictor of postinfarction adverse events over and above established risk factors, while structural RV involvement was not independently associated with outcome., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2020. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Purpose: To reduce acquisition time and improve image quality and robustness of ventilation assessment in a single breath-hold using 1 H-guided reconstruction of fluorinated gas ( 19 F) MRI., Methods: Reconstructions constraining total variation in the image domain, L1 norm in the wavelet domain, and directional total variation between 19 F and 1 H images were compared in order to accelerate 19 F ventilation imaging using retrospectively undersampled data from a healthy volunteer. Using the optimal constrained reconstruction in 8 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (16-seconds breath-hold), ventilation maps of various acceleration factors (2-fold to 13-fold) were compared with maps of the full data set using the Dice coefficient, difference in volume defect percentage and overlap percentage, as well as hyperpolarized 129 Xe gas MRI., Results: The reconstruction constraining total variation and directional total variation simultaneously performed best in the healthy volunteer (RMS error = 0.07, structural similarity index = 0.77) for a measurement time of 2 seconds. Using the same reconstruction in the patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, the Dice coefficient of defect volumes was 0.86 ± 0.05, the mean difference in volume defect percentage was -1.0 ± 1.7 percentage points, and the overlap percentage was 87% ± 2% for a measurement time of 6 seconds. Between volume defect percentage of 19 F and 129 Xe, a linear correlation (r = 0.75; P = .03) was found, with 19 F volume defect percentage being significantly higher (mean difference = 11%; P = .04)., Conclusion: 1 H-guided reconstruction of pulmonary 19 F gas MRI enables reduction of acquisition time while maintaining image quality and robustness of functional parameters., (© 2020 The Authors. Magnetic Resonance in Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.)

Competing Interests: Disclosures of Conflicts of Interest: M.G. disclosed no relevant relationships.

Coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) is already of great importance for the primary diagnostic testing for coronary artery disease (CAD) due to its high negative predictive value (NPV) and high sensitivity but, however, limited specificity. The specificity of invasive coronary angiography (ICA) could be increased by integrating the fractional flow reserve (FFR) into the invasive workflow with proof of the hemodynamic relevance of a morphologically detected coronary stenosis. New noninvasive methods of FFR calculations in CT based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) or machine learning (ML) demonstrate very encouraging results; however, the widespread use of FFR CT is mainly determined by the image quality and the resulting capabilities of coronary artery segmentation, which could be insufficient in up to 7-12% of CCTAs to calculate FFR CT , although a morphological assessment is still possible in most cases. Furthermore, FFR CT cannot be used in total coronary artery occlusion, e.g. to assess the amount of collateral flow. Therefore, FFR CT calculation alone is not the game changer in diagnosing chronic coronary syndrome (CCS), but the additional use of FFR CT together with CCTA can be beneficial in ambiguous cases. Additionally, only one commercially available FFR CT solution exists on the market with an off-site solution, which limits its acute benefits. Several on-site FFR CT solutions for scientific evaluation exist but can so far only be used for scientific purposes and are not available for clinical use; however, the calculation of FFR CT from CCTA data is certainly a meaningful supplement to the purely morphological assessment of the coronary arteries. The value of CCTA for the primary diagnosis of CCS in a clinical scenario will be improved when on-site FFR CT solutions become commercially available.

Objectives: To associate coronary wall volume and composition, derived from coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA), with cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) detected on invasive coronary angiography (ICA) in heart-transplanted (HTX) patients., Methods: We included consecutive adults who received ICA and coronary CTA for evaluation of CAV ≥ 10 months after HTX. In all coronary segments, we assessed lumen and wall volumes and segmental length, calculated volume-length ratio (VLR) (volumes indexed by segmental length; mm 3 /mm), wall burden (WB) (wall/wall + lumen volumes; %), and assessed proportions of calcified, fibrotic, fibro-fatty, and low-attenuation tissue (%) in coronary wall. We rendered independent CTA measures associated with CAV by ICA, tested their discriminatory capacity, and assessed concordance between CTA and ICA., Results: Among 50 patients (84% men; 53.6 ± 11.9 years), we analyzed 632 coronary segments. Mean interval between HTX and CTA was 6.7 ± 4.7 years and between ICA and CTA 1 (0-1) day. Segmental VLR, WB, and proportion of fibrotic tissue were independently associated with CAV (OR = 1.06-1.27; p ≤ 0.002), reaching a high discriminatory capacity (combination of all three: AUC = 0.84; 95%CI, 0.75-0.90). Concordance between CTA and ICA was higher in advanced CAV (88%) compared with that in none (37%) and mild (19%) CAV. Discordance was primarily driven by a large number of segments with coronary wall changes on CTA but without luminal stenoses on ICA (177/591; 25%)., Conclusion: CTA-derived coronary wall VLR, WB, and the proportion of fibrotic tissue are independent markers of CAV. Combination of these three parameters may aid the detection of early CAV not detected by ICA, the current standard of care., Key Points: • Coronary CTA detects CAV in HTX patients. • Coronary wall volume-length ratio, wall burden, and proportion of fibrotic tissue are independently associated with CAV. • In contrast to ICA, coronary CTA may identify the early stages of CAV.

Background & Aims: Homozygosity for the Pi∗Z variant of the gene that encodes the alpha-1 antitrypsin peptide (AAT), called the Pi∗ZZ genotype, causes a liver and lung disease called alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency. Heterozygosity (the Pi∗MZ genotype) is a risk factor for cirrhosis in individuals with liver disease. Up to 4% of Europeans have the Pi∗MZ genotype; we compared features of adults with and without Pi∗MZ genotype among persons without preexisting liver disease., Methods: We analyzed data from the European Alpha-1 Liver Cohort, from 419 adults with the Pi∗MZ genotype, 309 adults with the Pi∗ZZ genotype, and 284 individuals without the variant (noncarriers). All underwent a comprehensive evaluation; liver stiffness measurements (LSMs) were made by transient elastography. Liver biopsies were analyzed to define histologic and biochemical features associated with the Pi∗Z variant. Levels of serum transaminases were retrieved from 444,642 participants, available in the United Kingdom biobank., Results: In the UK biobank database, levels of serum transaminases were increased in subjects with the Pi∗MZ genotype compared with noncarriers. In the Alpha-1 Liver Cohort, adults with Pi∗MZ had lower levels of gamma-glutamyl transferase in serum and lower LSMs than adults with the Pi∗ZZ variant, but these were higher than in noncarriers. Ten percent of subjects with the Pi∗MZ genotype vs 4% of noncarriers had LSMs of 7.1 kPa or more (adjusted odds ratio, 4.8; 95% confidence interval, 2.0-11.8). Obesity and diabetes were the most important factors associated with LSMs ≥7.1 kPa in subjects with the Pi∗MZ genotype. AAT inclusions were detected in liver biopsies of 63% of subjects with the Pi∗MZ genotype, vs 97% of subjects with the Pi∗ZZ genotype, and increased with liver fibrosis stages. Subjects with the Pi∗MZ genotype did not have increased hepatic levels of AAT, whereas levels of insoluble AAT varied among individuals., Conclusions: Adults with the Pi∗MZ genotype have lower levels of serum transaminases, fewer AAT inclusions in liver, and lower liver stiffness than adults with the Pi∗ZZ genotype, but higher than adults without the Pi∗Z variant. These findings should help determine risk of subjects with the Pi∗MZ genotype and aid in counseling., (Copyright © 2020 AGA Institute. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: The translation of phase-resolved functional lung (PREFUL)-MRI to routine practice in monitoring chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) still requires clinical corresponding imaging biomarkers of pulmonary vascular disease., Purpose: To evaluate successful pulmonary endarterectomy (PEA) via PREFUL-MRI with pulmonary pulse wave transit time (pPTT)., Study Type: Retrospective., Population: Thirty CTEPH patients and 12 healthy controls were included., Field Strength/sequence: For PREFUL-MRI a 2D spoiled gradient echo sequence and for DCE-MRI a 3D time-resolved angiography with stochastic trajectories (TWIST) sequence were performed on 1.5T., Assessment: Eight coronal slices of PREFUL-MRI were obtained on consecutive 13 days before and 14 days after PEA. PREFUL quantitative lung perfusion (PREFUL Q ) phases over the whole cardiac cycle were calculated to quantify pPTT, the time the pulmonary pulse wave travels from the central pulmonary arteries to the pulmonary capillaries. Also, perfusion defect percentage based on pPTT (QDP pPTT ), PREFUL Q (QDP PREFUL ), and V/Q match were calculated. For DCE-MRI, pulmonary blood flow (PBF) and QDP PBF were computed as reference. For clinical correlation, mean pulmonary arterial pressure (mPAP) and 6-minute walking distance were evaluated preoperatively and after PEA., Statistical Tests: The Shapiro-Wilk test, paired two-sided Wilcoxon rank sum test, Dice coefficient, and Spearman's correlation coefficient (ρ) were applied., Results: Median pPTT was significantly lower post PEA (139 msec) compared to pre PEA (193 msec), P = 0.0002. Median pPTT correlated significantly with the mPAP post PEA (r = 0.52, P < 0.008). Median pPTT was distributed more homogeneously after PEA: IQR pPTT decreased from 336 to 281 msec (P < 0.004). Median PREFUL Q (P < 0.0002), QDP pPTT (P < 0.0478), QDP PREFUL (P < 0.0001) and V/Q match (P < 0.0001) improved significantly after PEA. Percentage change of PREFUL Q correlated significantly with percentage change of 6-minute walking distance (ρ = 0.61; P = 0.0031) 5 months post PEA., Data Conclusion: Perioperative perfusion changes in CTEPH can be detected and quantified by PREFUL-MRI. Normalization of pPTT reflects surgical success and improvement of PREFUL Q predicts 6-minute walking distance changes., Level of Evidence: 3 TECHNICAL EFFICACY STAGE: 2 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2020;52:610-619., (© 2020 The Authors. Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.)

Background: Perfusion-weighted (Qw) noncontrast-enhanced proton lung MRI is a promising technique for assessment of pulmonary perfusion, but still requires validation., Purpose: To improve perfusion-weighted phase-resolved functional lung (PREFUL)-MRI, to validate PREFUL with perfusion single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) as a gold standard, and to compare PREFUL with dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE)-MRI as a reference., Study Type: Retrospective., Population: Twenty patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), 14 patients with cystic fibrosis (CF), and 21 patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) were included., Field Strength/sequence: For PREFUL-MRI, a spoiled gradient echo sequence and for DCE-MRI a 3D time-resolved angiography with stochastic trajectories sequence were used at 1.5T., Assessment: PREFUL-MRI coronal slices were acquired in free-breathing. DCE-MRI was performed in breath-hold with injection of 0.03 mmol/kg bodyweight of gadoteric acid at a rate of 4 cc/s. Perfusion SPECT images were obtained for six CTEPH patients. Images were coregistered. An algorithm to define the appropriate PREFUL perfusion phase was developed using perfusion SPECT data. Perfusion defect percentages (QDP) and Qw-values were calculated for all methods. For PREFUL quantitative perfusion values (PREFUL Q ) and for DCE pulmonary blood flow (PBF) was calculated., Statistical Tests: Obtained parameters were assessed using Pearson correlation and Bland-Altman analysis., Results: Qw-SPECT correlated with Qw-DCE (r = 0.50, P < 0.01) and Qw-PREFUL (r = 0.47, P < 0.01). Spatial overlap of QDP maps showed an agreement ≥67.7% comparing SPECT and DCE, ≥64.1% for SPECT and PREFUL, and ≥60.2% comparing DCE and PREFUL. Significant correlations of Qw-PREFUL and Qw-DCE were found (COPD: r = 0.79, P < 0.01; CF: r = 0.77, P < 0.01; CTEPH: r = 0.73, P < 0.01). PREFUL Q /PBF correlations were similar/lower (CF, CTEPH: P > 0.12; COPD: P < 0.01) compared to Qw-PREFUL/DCE correlations. PREFUL Q -values were higher/similar compared to PBF-values (COPD, CF: P < 0.01; CTEPH: P = 0.026)., Data Conclusion: The automated PREFUL algorithm may allow for noncontrast-enhanced pulmonary perfusion assessment in COPD, CF, and CTEPH patients comparable to DCE-MRI. Level of Evidence 3 Technical Efficacy Stage 2 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2020;52:103-114., (© 2020 The Authors. Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.)

Type 2 diabetes predicts outcome following acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Since underlying mechanics are incompletely understood, we investigated left ventricular (LV) and left atrial (LA) pathophysiological changes and their prognostic implications using cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR). Consecutive patients ( N = 1,147; n = 265 with diabetes, n = 882 without diabetes) underwent CMR 3 days after AMI. Analyses included LV ejection fraction (LVEF); global longitudinal strain (GLS) and circumferential and radial strains; LA reservoir, conduit, and booster pump strains; and infarct size, edema, and microvascular obstruction. Predefined end points were major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) within 12 months. Patients with diabetes had impaired LA reservoir (19.8% vs. 21.2%, P < 0.01) and conduit (7.6% vs. 9.0%, P < 0.01) strains but not ventricular function or myocardial damage. They were at higher risk of MACE than patients without diabetes (10.2% vs. 5.8%, P < 0.01), with most MACE occurring in patients with LVEF ≥35%. While LVEF ( P = 0.045) and atrial reservoir strain ( P = 0.024) were independent predictors of MACE in patients without diabetes, GLS was in patients with diabetes ( P = 0.010). Considering patients with diabetes and LVEF ≥35% ( n = 237), GLS and LA reservoir strain below median were significantly associated with MACE. In conclusion, in patients with diabetes, LA and LV longitudinal strain permit optimized risk assessment early after reperfused AMI with incremental prognostic value over and above that of LVEF., (© 2020 by the American Diabetes Association.)