Improved Accuracy of Quantitative Assessment of Left Ventricular Volume and Ejection Fraction by Geometric Models with Steady-State Free Precession

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine whether steady-state free precession (SSFP) could improve accuracy of geometric models for evaluation of left ventricular (LV) function in comparison to turbo gradient echo (TGrE) and thereby reduce the acquisition and post-processing times, which are commonly long by use of the Simpson's Rule. In 25 subjects, cine loops of the complete heart in short and horizontal long-axis planes were acquired using TGrE (TR/TE/flip = 5.0/1.9/25) compared with SSFP (TR/TE/flip = 3.2/1.2/60). LV volumes and EF were measured with various geometric models for TGrE and SSFP. With three-dimensional data, the LV volumes were higher and the resulting EF lower for SSFP in contrast to TGrE (51 +/- 15% vs. 57 +/- 15%, p < 0.001). With SSFP, various geometric models yielded good to excellent correlations for LV volumes and LVEF compared to volumetric data (r = 0.94-0.98, mean relative difference 7.0-11.4%). In contrast, correlations were low using biplane or single-plane ellipsoid models in TGrE (r = 0.71-0.75, mean relative difference 15.9-30.2%). A new combined geometric model, taking all three dimensions into account, yielded the highest accuracy for SSFP in comparison to volumetric data (r = 0.99, mean relative difference 4.7%). Geometric models for assessment of LV volumes and EF yield higher accuracy and reproducibility by use of the SSFP sequence than by standard TGrE. This may increase clinical utility of magnetic resonance by shorter acquisition and processing times.

Matrix-Array 3-Dimensional Echocardiographic Assessment of Volumes, Mass, and Ejection Fraction in Young Pediatric Patients With a Functional Single Ventricle

“…The temporal resolution for 3DE, predicated on the young patient age and the corresponding higher heart rates, was lower for matrix-array 3DE than for CMR; 3DE data sets contain up to 19 frames per cardiac cycle, whereas CMR captures 30 frames. Another factor that may have affected both 3DE and CMR measurements 19,20 was determining and maintaining a consistent visual perspective of the ventricular border at the level of the atrioventricular valve(s). Through-plane motion during the cardiac cycle often obfuscated the decision to include or exclude a disk at the level of the valve hinge points.…”

Aortic Stiffness Increases Upon Receipt of Anthracycline Chemotherapy

“…10, 15 To determine LVV, the endocardial border of the LV cavity was traced at end-diastole and end-systole for each short-axis slice and then calculated by summation using Simpson's rule. The LVEF was calculated from the ratio of the difference between the LV end-diastolic volume (LVEDV) and LV end-systolic volume (LVESV) divided by LVEDV.…”

Automated frame‐by‐frame endocardial border detection from cardiac magnetic resonance images for quantitative assessment of left ventricular function: Validation and clinical feasibility

“…Today, this modality provides multiplane dynamic images of the beating heart with excellent spatial resolution and temporal resolution of 30 phases per cardiac cycle, which is comparable to what has been for many years the standard frame rate in 2D echocardiography. The combination of these features places CMR imaging as the tentative "gold standard" for LV size and function, as reflected by multiple publications in which it was used as such to validate other noninvasive techniques (3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12).…”

“…trast resolution that has become the standard reference in the assessment of left ventricular (LV) size and function (1,2), against which other techniques are frequently validated (3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12). However, this technique relies on the detection of endocardial boundaries, which requires frame-by-frame manual tracing on multiple slices, and is thus of limited value in clinical practice.…”