The often touted advantages of MR guidance remain largely unrealized for cardiovascular interventional procedures in patients. Many procedures have been simulated in animal models. We argue these opportunities for clinical interventional MR will be met in the near future. This paper reviews technical and clinical considerations and offers advice on how to implement a clinical-grade interventional cardiovascular MR (iCMR) laboratory. We caution that this reflects our personal view of the "state of the art."

BackgroundThe field of interventional cardiovascular MRI is hampered by the unavailability of active guidewires that are both safe and conspicuous. Heating of conductive guidewires is difficult to predict in vivo and disruptive to measure using external probes. We describe a clinical-grade 0.035” (0.89 mm) guidewire for MRI right and left heart catheterization at 1.5 T that has an internal probe to monitor temperature in real-time, and that has both tip and shaft visibility as well as suitable flexibility.MethodsThe design has an internal fiberoptic temperature probe, as well as a distal solenoid to enhance tip visibility on a loopless antenna. We tested different tip-solenoid configurations to balance heating and signal profiles. We tested mechanical performance in vitro and in vivo in comparison with a popular clinical nitinol guidewire.ResultsThe solenoid displaced the point of maximal heating (“hot spot”) from the tip to a more proximal location where it can be measured without impairing guidewire flexion. Probe pullback allowed creation of lengthwise guidewire temperature maps that allowed rapid evaluation of design prototypes. Distal-only solenoid attachment offered the best compromise between tip visibility and heating among design candidates. When fixed at the hot spot, the internal probe consistently reflected the maximum temperature compared external probes.Real-time temperature monitoring was performed during porcine left heart catheterization. Heating was negligible using normal operating parameters (flip angle, 45°; SAR, 1.01 W/kg); the temperature increased by 4.2°C only during high RF power mode (flip angle, 90°; SAR, 3.96 W/kg) and only when the guidewire was isolated from blood cooling effects by an introducer sheath. The tip flexibility and in vivo performance of the final guidewire design were similar to a popular commercial guidewire.ConclusionsWe integrated a fiberoptic temperature probe inside a 0.035” MRI guidewire. Real-time monitoring helps detect deleterious heating during use, without impairing mechanical guidewire operation, and without impairing MRI visibility. We therefore need not rely on prediction to ensure safe clinical operation. Future implementations may modulate specific absorption rate (SAR) based on temperature feedback.

Structured Abstract Objectives We developed and tested a novel transcatheter circumferential annuloplasty technique to reduce mitral regurgitation in porcine ischemic cardiomyopathy. Background Catheter-based annuloplasty for secondary mitral regurgitation exploits the proximity of the coronary sinus to the mitral annulus, but is limited by anatomic variants and coronary artery entrapment. Methods The procedure, “cerclage annuloplasty,” is guided by MRI roadmaps fused with live X-ray. A coronary sinus guidewire traverses a short segment of basal septal myocardium to reenter the right heart where it is exchanged for a suture. Tension is applied interactively during imaging and secured with a locking device. Results We found two feasible suture pathways from the great cardiac vein across the interventricular septum to create cerclage. Right-ventricular septal reentry required shorter fluoroscopy times than right atrial reentry, which entailed a longer intramyocardial traversal but did not cross the tricuspid valve. Graded tension progressively reduced septal-lateral annular diameter but not end-systolic elastance or regional myocardial function. A simple arch-like device protected entrapped coronary arteries from compression even during supra-therapeutic tension. Cerclage reduced mitral regurgitation fraction (from 22.8 ± 12.7% to 7.2 ± 4.4%, p=0.04) by slice-tracking velocity-encoded MRI. Flexible cerclage reduced annular size but preserved annular motion. Cerclage also displaced the posterior annulus towards the papillary muscles. Cerclage introduced reciprocal constraint to the left ventricular outflow tract and mitral annulus that enhanced leaflet coaptation. A sample of human coronary venograms and CT angiograms suggested that most have suitable venous anatomy for cerclage. Conclusions Transcatheter mitral cerclage annuloplasty acutely reduces mitral regurgitation in porcine ischemic cardiomyopathy. Entrapped coronary arteries can be protected. MRI provided insight into the mechanism of cerclage action.