Wall-motion based analysis of global and regional left atrial mechanics.

Atrial fibrillation is an increasingly prevalent cardiovascular disease; changes in atrial structure and function induced by atrial fibrillation and its treatments are often spatially heterogeneous. However, spatial heterogeneity of function is difficult to assess with standard imaging techniques. This paper describes a method to assess global and regional mechanical function by combining cardiac magnetic resonance imaging and finite-element surface fitting. We used this fitted surface to derive measures of left atrial volume, regional motion, and spatial heterogeneity of motion in 23 subjects, including healthy volunteers and atrial fibrillation patients. We fit the surfaces using a Newton optimization scheme in under 1 min on a standard laptop, with a root mean square error of 2.3 ± 0.5 mm, less than 9% of the mean fitted radius, and an inter-operator variability of less than 10%. Fitted surfaces showed clear definition of the phases of left atrial motion (filling, passive emptying, active contraction) in both volume-time and regional radius-time curves. Averaged surfaces of healthy volunteers and atrial fibrillation patients provided evidence of substantial regional variation in both amount and timing of regional motion, indicating spatial heterogeneity of function, even in healthy adults.

MR cine DENSE dyssynchrony parameters for the evaluation of heart failure: comparison with myocardial tissue tagging.

OBJECTIVES: We sought to assess the effectiveness of automated mechanical dyssynchrony (MD) parameters based on regional heterogeneity of strain (circumferential [CURE], longitudinal [LURE], and radial uniformity ratio estimates) relative to parameters based on regional time to peak contraction with cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) cine DENSE (Displacement Encoding with Stimulated Echoes) validated with myocardial tissue tagging (MTT) strain data. BACKGROUND: Dyssynchrony measures based on the Fourier transformation (FT) of regional strain, such as CURE (previously evaluated in cardiac resynchronization therapy candidates), directly assess MD and yield straightforward global dyssynchrony indexes; however, performance relative to the 12-segment standard deviation of time to peak strain (SD12) or maximal regional delay in time to peak strain is unknown. METHODS: Cine DENSE and MTT were obtained with CMR (1.5-T Siemens Avanto, Siemens, Erlangen, Germany) in 13 canines: 3 normal control subjects, 5 with tachycardia pacing-induced heart failure (HF) and left bundle branch ablation (LBBB-HF), and 5 with HF and narrow QRS (NQRS-HF). Strain and dyssynchrony parameters were determined with both CMR methods. RESULTS: Both HF groups had reduced peak strains and left ventricular ejection fraction compared with normal cases. There was strong agreement between cine DENSE and MTT on the basis of intraclass correlation coefficients (CURE: 0.99, 95% CI: 0.96 to 1.00; LURE: 0.92, 95% CI: 0.77 to 0.98; circumferential strain [E(CC)]: 0.95, 95% CI: 0.72 to 0.99; longitudinal strain [E(LL)]: 0.82, 95% CI: 0.42 to 0.97). The FT-based metrics (scale 0 to 1), in particular CURE, discriminated highly between LBBB-HF and NQRS-HF groups (median difference): CURE: 0.60, 95% CI: 0.43 to 0.76; LURE: 0.39, 95% CI: 0.19 to 0.58; radial uniformity ratio estimate: 0.22, 95% CI: 0.04 to 0.40). In contrast, relative confidence intervals for group differences in time-to-peak parameters were wide, indicating less consistent discrimination (median difference): SD12-E(CC): 52.5, 95% CI: -4.0 to 109.2; SD12-E(LL): 40.9, 95% CI: -5.3 to 87.1; SD12-radial strain: 42.0, 95% CI: 0.4 to 83.6). Correlations between FT-based and time-to-peak parameters were significant (CURE/SD12-E(CC): r = -0.62, p = 0.03; LURE/SD12-E(LL): r = -0.76, p = 0.005) but not as tight as correlations between time-to-peak parameters. CONCLUSIONS: Automated FT-based circumferential, radial, and longitudinal dyssynchrony measures compare favorably with time-to-peak parameters. Cine DENSE was effective for this application and validated with MTT. Further clinical evaluation in cardiac resynchronization therapy candidates with CMR or other imaging modalities is warranted.

The role of cardiac magnetic resonance in the evaluation of patients presenting with suspected or confirmed acute coronary syndrome.

Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) has an important emerging role in the evaluation and management of patients who present with symptoms concerning for acute coronary syndrome (ACS). This paper discusses the role of CMR in the emergency department setting, where CMR can aid in the early and accurate diagnosis of non-ST elevation ACS in low and intermediate risk patients. For those with confirmed myocardial infarction (MI), CMR provides comprehensive prognostic information and can readily diagnose structural complications related to MI. Furthermore, the pattern of late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) seen on CMR can help determine the etiology of cardiac injury in the subset of patients presenting with ACS who do not have obstructive coronary artery disease by angiography.

Analysis of in vivo left atrial appendage morphology in patients with atrial fibrillation: a direct comparison of transesophageal echocardiography, planar cardiac CT, and segmented three-dimensional cardiac CT.

PURPOSE: Recent development of percutaneous left atrial appendage (LAA) occlusion devices has underscored the need for an accurate understanding of LAA morphology and the interchangeability of results from differing imaging modalities. The purpose of this study is to assess LAA morphology and location in AF patients, directly comparing transesophageal echocardiography (TEE), planar cardiac computed tomography (CT), and three-dimensional segmented CT reconstructions. METHODS: Fifty-three patients underwent adequate TEE and cardiac CT. Quantitative measurements of maximal LAA orifice diameters, widths, and depths were obtained from each imaging modality. Left atrial and LAA volumes were measured using segmented CT. RESULTS: The mean LAA orifice diameter for segmented CT, planar CT, and TEE was 28.5 +/- 4.5, 26.3 +/- 4.1, and 26.1 +/- 6.4 mm, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: LAA orifice measurements among these imaging modalities are not interchangeable. This difference may be clinically significant because of the need for accurate sizing of LAA occlusion devices. Use of preprocedural segmented CT may improve initial device sizing.