Background Coronary endothelial function (endoFx) is abnormal in patients with established coronary artery disease (CAD) and was recently shown by MRI to relate to the severity of luminal stenosis. Recent advances in MRI now allow the non-invasive assessment of both anatomic and functional (endoFx) changes that previously required invasive studies. We tested the hypothesis that abnormal coronary endoFx is related to measures of early atherosclerosis such as increased coronary wall thickness (CWT). Methods and Results Seventeen arteries in fourteen healthy adults and seventeen arteries in fourteen patients with non-obstructive CAD were studied. To measure endoFx, coronary MRI was performed before and during isometric handgrip exercise, an endothelial-dependent stressor and changes in coronary cross-sectional area (CSA) and flow were measured. Black blood imaging was performed to quantify CWT and other indices of arterial remodeling. The mean stress-induced change in CSA was significantly higher in healthy adults (13.5%±12.8%, mean±SD, n=17) than in those with mildly diseased arteries (-2.2±6.8%, p<0.0001, n=17). Mean CWT was lower in healthy subjects (0.9±0.2mm) than in CAD patients (1.4±0.3mm, p<0.0001). In contrast to healthy subjects, stress-induced changes in CSA, a measure of coronary endoFx, correlated inversely with CWT in CAD patients (r= -0.73, p=0.0008). Conclusions There is an inverse relationship between coronary endothelial function and local CWT in CAD patients but not in healthy adults. These findings demonstrate that local endothelial-dependent functional changes are related to the extent of early anatomic atherosclerosis in mildly diseased arteries. This combined MRI approach enables the anatomic and functional investigation of early coronary disease.

Hays AG, Iantorno M, Soleimanifard S, Steinberg A, Schär M, Gerstenblith G, Stuber M, Weiss RG. Coronary vasomotor responses to isometric handgrip exercise are primarily mediated by nitric oxide: a noninvasive MRI test of coronary endothelial function. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 308: H1343-H1350, 2015. First published March 27, 2015 doi:10.1152/ajpheart.00023.2015.-Endothelial cell release of nitric oxide (NO) is a defining characteristic of nondiseased arteries, and abnormal endothelial NO release is both a marker of early atherosclerosis and a predictor of its progression and future events. Healthy coronaries respond to endothelial-dependent stressors with vasodilatation and increased coronary blood flow (CBF), but those with endothelial dysfunction respond with paradoxical vasoconstriction and reduced CBF. Recently, coronary MRI and isometric handgrip exercise (IHE) were reported to noninvasively quantify coronary endothelial function (CEF). However, it is not known whether the coronary response to IHE is actually mediated by NO and/or whether it is reproducible over weeks. To determine the contribution of NO, we studied the coronary response to IHE before and during infusion of N G -monomethyl-L-arginine (L-NMMA, 0.3 mg·kg Ϫ1 ·min Ϫ1 ), a NO-synthase inhibitor, in healthy volunteers. For reproducibility, we performed two MRI-IHE studies ϳ8 wk apart in healthy subjects and patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). Changes from rest to IHE in coronary cross-sectional area (%CSA) and diastolic CBF (%CBF) were quantified. L-NMMA completely blocked normal coronary vasodilation during IHE [%CSA, 12.9 Ϯ 2.5 (mean Ϯ SE, placebo) vs. Ϫ0.3 Ϯ 1.6% (L-NMMA); P Ͻ 0.001] and significantly blunted the increase in flow [%CBF, 47.7 Ϯ 6.4 (placebo) vs. 10.6 Ϯ 4.6% (L-NMMA); P Ͻ 0.001]. MRI-IHE measures obtained weeks apart strongly correlated for CSA (P Ͻ 0.0001) and CBF (P Ͻ 0.01). In conclusion, the normal human coronary vasoactive response to IHE is primarily mediated by NO. This noninvasive, reproducible MRI-IHE exam of NO-mediated CEF promises to be useful for studying CAD pathogenesis in low-risk populations and for evaluating translational strategies designed to alter CAD in patients. endothelial function; coronary artery disease; magnetic resonance imaging ENDOTHELIAL CELL RELEASE of nitric oxide (NO) is a defining characteristic of nondiseased vascular tissue; it inhibits platelet aggregation, attenuates inflammation, decreases cellular proliferation, and induces local vascular smooth muscle vasodilation (4). Most classic and novel cardiovascular risk factors converge to impair endothelial function, including dyslipidemia, insulin resistance, inflammation, tobacco abuse, and oxidative stress, as well as hemodynamic and genetic factors (4, 33). Critically, endothelial dysfunction is a marker for subclinical disease, an independent predictor of adverse cardiovascular events, and a potential target for medical interventions (21,24,28).Traditionally, coronary endothelial function (CEF) is assessed by the directi...

BackgroundWe sought to investigate the relationship between infarct and dyssynchrony post- myocardial infarct (MI), in a porcine model. Mechanical dyssynchrony post-MI is associated with left ventricular (LV) remodeling and increased mortality.MethodsCine, gadolinium-contrast, and tagged cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) were performed pre-MI, 9 ± 2 days (early post-MI), and 33 ± 10 days (late post-MI) post-MI in 6 pigs to characterize cardiac morphology, location and extent of MI, and regional mechanics. LV mechanics were assessed by circumferential strain (eC). Electro-anatomic mapping (EAM) was performed within 24 hrs of CMR and prior to sacrifice.ResultsMean infarct size was 21 ± 4% of LV volume with evidence of post-MI remodeling. Global eC significantly decreased post MI (-27 ± 1.6% vs. -18 ± 2.5% (early) and -17 ± 2.7% (late), p < 0.0001) with no significant change in peri-MI and MI segments between early and late time-points. Time to peak strain (TTP) was significantly longer in MI, compared to normal and peri-MI segments, both early (440 ± 40 ms vs. 329 ± 40 ms and 332 ± 36 ms, respectively; p = 0.0002) and late post-MI (442 ± 63 ms vs. 321 ± 40 ms and 355 ± 61 ms, respectively; p = 0.012). The standard deviation of TTP in 16 segments (SD16) significantly increased post-MI: 28 ± 7 ms to 50 ± 10 ms (early, p = 0.012) to 54 ± 19 ms (late, p = 0.004), with no change between early and late post-MI time-points (p = 0.56). TTP was not related to reduction of segmental contractility. EAM revealed late electrical activation and greatly diminished conduction velocity in the infarct (5.7 ± 2.4 cm/s), when compared to peri-infarct (18.7 ± 10.3 cm/s) and remote myocardium (39 ± 20.5 cm/s).ConclusionsMechanical dyssynchrony occurs early after MI and is the result of delayed electrical and mechanical activation in the infarct.

Background Normal endothelial function is a measure of vascular health and dysfunction a predictor of coronary events. Nitric Oxide (NO)-mediated coronary artery endothelial function (CEF), as assessed by vasomotor reactivity during isometric handgrip exercise (IHE), was recently quantified noninvasively with MRI. Because the internal mammary artery (IMA) is often visualized during coronary MRI we propose the strategy of simultaneously assessing systemic and coronary endothelial function noninvasively by MRI during IHE. Methods and Results Changes in cross-sectional area (CSA) and blood flow (BF) in the right coronary artery (RCA) and the IMA in 25 CAD patients and 26 healthy subjects during IHE were assessed using 3T MRI. In 8 healthy subjects a NO synthase inhibitor was infused to evaluate the role of NO in the IMA-IHE response. Inter-observer IMA-IHE reproducibility was good for CSA (R=0.91) and BF (R=0.91). In healthy subjects, CSA and BF of the IMA increased during IHE and these responses were significantly attenuated by L-NMMA (p<0.01 vs. placebo). In CAD patients, the RCA did not dilate with IHE and dilation of the IMA was less than that of the healthy subjects (p=0.01). The BF responses of both the RCA and IMA to IHE were also significantly reduced in CAD patients. Conclusions MRI-detected IMA responses to IHE primarily reflect NO-dependent endothelial function, are reproducible and reduced in CAD patients. Endothelial function in both coronary and systemic (IMA) arteries can now be measured noninvasively with the same imaging technique and promises novel insights into systemic and local factors affecting vascular health.

Objective HIV+ individuals experience an increased burden of coronary artery disease (CAD) not adequately accounted for by traditional CAD risk factors. Coronary endothelial function (CEF), a barometer of vascular health, is depressed early in atherosclerosis and predicts future events but has not been studied in HIV+ individuals. We tested whether CEF is impaired in HIV+ subjects without CAD as compared to an HIV- population matched for cardiac risk factors. Design/Methods In this observational study, CEF was measured noninvasively by quantifying isometric handgrip exercise (IHE)-induced changes in coronary vasoreactivity with MRI in 18 participants with HIV but no CAD (HIV+CAD-, based on prior imaging), 36 age- and cardiac risk factor-matched healthy participants with neither HIV nor CAD (HIV-CAD-), 41 subjects with no HIV but with known CAD (HIV-CAD+) and 17 subjects with both HIV and CAD (HIV+CAD+). Results CEF was significantly depressed in HIV+CAD- subjects as compared to that of risk-factor-matched HIV-CAD- subjects (p<0.0001), and was depressed to the level of that in HIV- participants with established CAD. Mean IL-6 levels were higher in HIV+ participants (p<0.0001), and inversely related to CEF in the HIV+ subjects (p=0.007). Conclusions Marked coronary endothelial dysfunction is present in HIV+ subjects without significant CAD and is as severe as that in clinical CAD patients. Furthermore, endothelial dysfunction appears inversely related to the degree of inflammation in HIV+ subjects, as measured by IL-6. CEF testing in HIV+ patients may be useful for assessing cardiovascular risk and testing new CAD treatment strategies, including those targeting inflammation.

There is a significant relationship between increased metabolically-active EAT and depressed local CEF in people with HIV, consistent with the hypothesis that increased epicardial fat contributes to accelerated CAD in persons with HIV.

Image labeling is an essential task for evaluating and analyzing morphometric features in medical imaging data. Labels can be obtained by either human interaction or automated segmentation algorithms. However, both approaches for labeling suffer from inevitable error due to noise and artifact in the acquired data. The Simultaneous Truth And Performance Level Estimation (STAPLE) algorithm was developed to combine multiple rater decisions and simultaneously estimate unobserved true labels as well as each rater's level of performance (i.e., reliability). A generalization of STAPLE for the case of continuous-valued labels has also been proposed. In this paper, we first show that with the proposed Gaussian distribution assumption, this continuous STAPLE formulation yields equivalent likelihoods for the bias parameter, meaning that the bias parameter—one of the key performance indices—is actually indeterminate. We resolve this ambiguity by augmenting the STAPLE expectation maximization formulation to include a priori probabilities on the performance level parameters, which enables simultaneous, meaningful estimation of both the rater bias and variance performance measures. We evaluate and demonstrate the efficacy of this approach in simulations and also through a human rater experiment involving the identification the intersection points of the right ventricle to the left ventricle in CINE cardiac data.

In coronary magnetic resonance angiography, a magnetization-preparation scheme for T2-weighting (T2Prep) is widely used to enhance contrast between the coronary blood-pool and the myocardium. This pre-pulse is commonly applied without spatial selection to minimize flow sensitivity, but the non-selective implementation results in a reduced magnetization of the in-flowing blood and a related penalty in signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR). It is hypothesized that a spatially-selective T2Prep would leave the magnetization of blood outside the T2Prep volume unaffected, and thereby lower the SNR penalty. To test this hypothesis, a spatially-selective T2Prep was implemented where the user could freely adjust angulation and position of the T2Prep slab to avoid covering the ventricular blood-pool and saturating the in-flowing spins. A time gap of 150ms was further added between the T2Prep and other pre-pulses to allow for in-flow of a larger volume of unsaturated spins. Consistent with numerical simulation, the spatially-selective T2Prep increased in vivo human coronary artery SNR (42.3±2.9 vs. 31.4±2.2, n=22, p<0.0001) and contrast-to-noise-ratio (18.6±1.5 vs. 13.9±1.2, p=0.009) as compared to those of the non-selective T2Prep. Additionally, a segmental analysis demonstrated that the spatially-selective T2Prep was most beneficial in proximal and mid segments where the in-flowing blood volume was largest compared to the distal segments.