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Different microoxygenation procedures before and after malolactic fermentation were applied to Pinot noir wines from two consecutive vintages using the same Pinot noir block and a standardized winemaking protocol. The effects of microoxygenation treatments were investigated by spectrophotometry, HPLC-DAD, and descriptive sensory analysis. Microoxygenation before malolactic fermentation was carried out in 250-L red wine fermentors at oxygen dosages of 20 and 100 mg/L/month for 20 days. Oxygen dosages of 1 and 5 mg/L/month were applied for three months after malolactic fermentation using 100-L stainless-steel tanks. CIELab results showed that microoxygenation in 2006 tended to yield light-colored wines with an increase in yellow tonality. Examining monomeric polyphenols after alcoholic fermentation, this oxygen-induced color loss may be related to the high flavan-3-ol to anthocyanin ratio in this vintage. Furthermore, twice the increase in acetaldehyde content upon microoxygenation after malolactic fermentation was observed in 2006, which indicated excess oxygen for these wines. By contrast, a low flavan-3-ol to anthocyanin ratio was determined after alcoholic fermentation in wines of vintage 2007. Predominantly, these wines showed an increase in blueness upon microoxygenation treatments. Low correlations among astringency related attributes proved that the chosen attributes independently characterized the sensory variation in tannic structure among the microoxygenated Pinot noir wines. Descriptive analysis revealed that microoxygenation predominantly diminished green tannins in 2006 wines. Dry tannins, although decreasing in course of microoxygenation with low oxygen doses, rose again at higher oxygen doses. Beneficial aroma changes in 2006 and the increase of color intensity in 2007 were more salient upon microoxygenation prior to malolactic fermentation. An unfavorable impact on Pinot noir aroma occurred primarily due to microoxygenation after malolactic fermentation.

Background Predicting mortality in patients with non-ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy (NIDCM) is currently demanding and requires complex models. Assessing the extracellular volume fraction (ECV) by T1-mapping cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) is an attractive approach to quantify myocardial injury as a potential predictor of adverse events in these patients. This study evaluated ECV imaging by T1-mapping CMR in comparison with the established “Seattle Heart Failure Model” (SHFM; http://www.seattleheartfailuremodel.org). Methods This study included 50 patients with heart failure and reduced left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction due to non-ischemic cardiomyopathy. The SHFM was used to estimate 1, 2 and 5 year mortalities as well as life expectancy, respectively. T1 quantification was performed at 1.5 Tesla using the modified Look-Locker inversionrecovery (MOLLI) sequence on 3 short-axes before and 15 minutes after administration of 0.075 mmol/kg gadolinium-BOPTA. Global myocardial ECV was then calculated from native and post-contrast T1 maps generated by a dedicated plug-in written for the OsiriX software, respectively. Results Median predicted 1-, 2- and 5-year mortalities were 4% (interquartile range 2-6%), 7% (interquartile range 5-12%) and 16% (interquartile range 12-28%) in the study population, respectively. Median estimated life expectancy was 13 years (interquartile range 9-15 years). A significant correlation was found between global myocardial ECV and predicted 1- (r = 0.47; p < 0.001), 2- (r = 0.46; p < 0.001) and 5-year mortality (r = 0.46; p < 0.001), respectively. Furthermore, a significant inverse correlation was found between global myocardial ECV and predicted life expectancy (r = -0.37; p < 0.01). Conclusions Myocardial injury as quantified by ECV-imaging correlates well with predicted mortality and has great potential to improve risk stratification in patients with heart failure due to NIDCM. Funding

Methods The study included twenty patients with heart failure NYHA class III and reduced ejection fraction (24 (18-28) %), scheduled for CRT device implantation. All patients underwent cineand VENC-MRI before device implantation. Intra-ventricular dyssynchrony was measured by cine-MRI as the septal-to-lateral mechanical delay (SLMD). The inter-ventricular mechanical delay (IVMD) was assessed by VENC-MRI as the difference between onset of aortic and pulmonary flow. Clinical response to CRT was assessed at 6-month follow-up after device implantation.

To evaluate the performance of velocity-encoded (VENC) magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, as compared with pulsed-wave echocardiography (PW-ECHO), in the quantification of interventricular mechanical dyssynchrony (IVMD) as a predictor of response to cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT).The study was approved by the local ethics committee, and all patients provided written informed consent. The study involved the examination of 45 patients (nine women, 36 men; median age, 60 years; interquartile age range, 47-69 years) with New York Heart Association class 2.0-3.0 heart failure and a reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (median, 25%; interquartile range, 21%-32%), with (n = 25) or without (n = 20) left bundle branch block. Aortic and pulmonary flow curves were constructed by using VENC MR imaging and PW-ECHO. IVMD was defined as the difference between the onset of aortic flow and the onset of pulmonary flow. Intraclass correlation coefficient, Spearman correlation coefficient, Bland-Altman, and Cohen kappa analyses were used to assess agreement between observers and methods.Inter- and intraobserver agreement regarding VENC MR imaging IVMD measurements was very good (intraclass r = 0.96, P.001; mean bias, -3 msec +/- 11 [standard deviation] and 0 msec +/- 10, respectively). A strong correlation (Spearman r = 0.92, P.001) and strong agreement (mean difference, -6 msec +/- 16) were found between VENC MR imaging and PW-ECHO in the quantification of IVMD. Agreement between VENC MR imaging and PW-ECHO in the identification of potential responders to CRT was excellent (Cohen kappa = 0.94).VENC MR measurements of IVMD are equivalent to PW-ECHO measurements and can be used to identify potential responders to CRT.

Background There is an overlapping phenotype in patients with newonset systolic heart failure due to myocarditis and dilative cardiomyopathy (DCM). Differentiation between both etiologies has important therapeutic and prognostic implications and is currently based on endomyocardial biopsy (EMB). In contrast, current cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) techniques are of limited value in these patients with predominantly diffuse myocardial injury. This study evaluated the performance of quantitative T1- and T2-mapping CMR to differentiate between active myocarditis and DCM in patients with new-onset systolic heart failure. Methods This study included 26 patients with new-onset systolic heart failure and reduced left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (32 ± 12 %), who underwent EMB and CMR at 1.5 Tesla. The protocol included conventional sequences (T2w-STIR), Early- (T1w-TSE) and Late-GadoliniumEnhancement (PSIR). Furthermore, T1 quantification was performed using the modified Look-Locker inversionrecovery (MOLLI) sequence before (native) and 15 minutes after administration of 0.075 mmol/kg GadoliniumBOPTA. T2 quantification was performed using a freebreathing, navigator-gated multi-echo sequence. Native T1, post-contrast T1, extracellular volume (ECV) and T2 maps were calculated with a dedicated plug-in written for the OsiriX software. Results EMB revealed variants of active myocarditis in 13 (50 %) and DCM in the remaining 13 (50 %) patients. The ROC areas-under-the-curve (AUC) to discriminate between both etiologies was 0.54 (p = 0.77) for Early-GadoliniumEnhancement, 0.63 (p = 0.23) for Late-GadoliniumEnhancement, 0.68 (p = 0.11) for T2w-STIR, 0.66 (p = 0.17) for native global myocardial T1, 0.72 (p = 0.05) for post-contrast global myocardial T1, 0.61 (p = 0.36) for global myocardial ECV and 0.74 (p < 0.05) for global myocardial T2. Sensitivity and specificity were 50 % and 83 % to discriminate between myocarditis and DCM using global myocardial T2 (optimal cut-off ≥ 60 ms). Conclusions Assessing myocardial inflammation by T2-mapping CMR could be helpful to discriminate between active myocarditis and DCM in patients with new-onset systolic heart failure. T2-mapping CMR appears to be superior compared to conventional techniques but also to T1-mapping CMR in this context. Funding

Background Current semi-quantitative cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) techniques are of limited diagnostic value in patients with suspected myocarditis. T1and T2-mapping CMR are promising novel quantitative approaches to assess myocardial injury. This study evaluated the performance of T1 and T2 mapping CMR to identify patients with myocarditis in comparison with conventional CMR techniques.