Purpose:To further validate the quantitative use of flowsensitive four-dimensional velocity encoded cine magnetic resonance imaging (4D VEC MRI) for simultaneously acquired venous and arterial blood flow in healthy volunteers and for abnormal flow in patients with congenital heart disease.Materials and Methods: Stroke volumes (SV) obtained in arterial and venous thoracic vessels were compared between standard two-dimensional (2D), 4D VEC MRI with and without respiratory navigator gating (gated/nongated) in volunteers (n ¼ 7). In addition, SV and regurgitation fractions (RF) measured in aorta or pulmonary trunk of patients with malformed and/or insufficient valves (n ¼ 10) were compared between 2D and nongated 4D VEC MRI methods. Results:In volunteers and patients, Bland-Altman tests showed excellent agreement between 2D, gated, and nongated 4D VEC MRI obtained quantitative blood flow measurements. The bias between 2D and gated 4D VEC MRI was <0.5 mL for SV; between 2D and nongated 4D VEC MRI the bias was <0.7 mL for SV and <1% for RF.Conclusion: Blood flow can be quantified accurately in arterial, venous, and pathological flow conditions using 4D VEC MRI. Nongated 4D VEC MRI has the potential to be suited for clinical use in patients with congenital heart disease who require flow acquisitions in multiple vessels.

4D VEC MRI improves MRI-derived blood flow quantification in patients with semilunar valve stenosis and complex accelerated flow.

Peak systolic pressure drops can be reliably calculated using MRI-based CFD in a clinical setting. Therefore, CFD might be an attractive noninvasive alternative to diagnostic catheterization.

Realistic 3-dimensional modeling of the heart provides a new means for the assessment of complex intracardiac anatomy. We expect this method to change current diagnostic approaches and facilitate preoperative planning.

The atria play an important role in cardiac performance. We evaluated their function and the atrioventricular interaction in operated patients with tetralogy of Fallot (TOF). Twenty patients who had undergone surgical repair of TOF and seven controls were investigated. Patients had residual pulmonary but no major tricuspid valve insufficiency. Atrial and ventricular strain rates were obtained by echocardiographic speckle tracking. Cine MRI-derived volumetric analysis provided atrial and ventricular time volume and time volume change curves yielding emptying and filling parameters. In addition, at the atrial level, reservoir, conduit and pump function, and cyclic volume change were calculated. At the atrioventricular valve level, tricuspid and mitral annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE and MAPSE, respectively) were measured by two-dimensional echocardiography. In the patients compared with controls, right ventricular end-diastolic volumes were increased and biventricular ejection fraction was decreased (all P < 0.05). Biventricular measures of early diastolic ventricular filling were at control levels, but in late diastole, right ventricular filling parameters and strain rates were decreased (P < 0.001). The maximal right atrial size was slightly but not significantly diminished, but cyclic volume change was significantly reduced (P < 0.0001). Pump and reservoir function were decreased (P < 0.05), and conduit function was elevated (P < 0.001). The left atrium showed reduced reservoir function and cyclic volume change (P < 0.05). TAPSE and MAPSE were also decreased (P < 0.05). There were statistically significant interdependencies between RV ejection fraction, TAPSE, and right atrial filling and emptying parameters (all P < 0.05). In TOF patients, moderate systolic and diastolic right ventricular dysfunction is associated with clearly impaired right atrial function. The left atrium is affected to a lesser extent.

Aortic coarctation (CoA) accounting for 3-11% of congenital heart disease can be successfully treated. Long-term results, however, have revealed decreased life expectancy associated with abnormal hemodynamics. Accordingly, an assessment of hemodynamics is the key factor in treatment decisions and successful long-term results. In this study, 3D angiography whole heart (3DWH) and 4D phase-contrast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data were acquired. Geometries of the thoracic aorta with CoAs were reconstructed using ZIB-Amira software. X-ray angiograms were used to evaluate the post-treatment geometry. Computational fluid dynamics models in three patients were created to simulate pre- and post-treatment situations using the FLUENT program. The aim of the study was to investigate the impact of the inlet velocity profile (plug vs. MRI-based) with a focus on the peak systole pressure gradient and wall shear stress (WSS). Results show that helical flow at the aorta inlet can significantly affect the assessment of pressure drop and WSS. Simplified plug inlet velocity profiles significantly (p < 0.05) overestimate the pressure drop in pre- and post-treatment geometries and significantly (p < 0.05) underestimate surface-averaged WSS. We conclude that the use of the physiologically correct but time-expensive 4D MRI-based in vivo velocity profile in CFD studies may be an important step towards a patient-specific analysis of CoA hemodynamics.

This study compared pressure fields by 4-dimensional (4D), velocity-encoded cine (VEC) cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) with pressures measured by the clinical gold standard catheterization. Thirteen patients (n = 7 male, n = 6 female) with coarctation were studied. The 4D-VEC-CMR pressure fields were computed by solving the Pressure-Poisson equation. The agreement between catheterization and CMR-based methods was determined at 5 different measurement sites along the aorta. For all sites, the correlation coefficients between measures varied between 0.86 and 0.97 (p < 0.001). The Bland-Altman test showed good agreement between peak systolic pressure gradients across the coarctation. The nonsignificant (p > 0.2) bias was +2.3 mm Hg (± 6.4 mm Hg, 2 SDs) for calibration with dynamic pressures and +1.5 mm Hg (± 4.6 mm Hg, 2 SDs) for calibration with static pressure. In a clinical setting of coarctation, pressure fields can be accurately computed from 4D-VEC-CMR-derived flows. In patients with coarctation, this noninvasive technique might evolve to an alternative to invasive catheterization.

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