Evaluation of ventricular dysfunction using semi-automatic longitudinal strain analysis of four-chamber cine MR imaging.

The aim of this study was to evaluate ventricular dysfunction using the longitudinal strain analysis in 4-chamber (4CH) cine MR imaging, and to investigate the agreement between the semi-automatic and manual measurements in the analysis. Fifty-two consecutive patients with ischemic, or non-ischemic cardiomyopathy and repaired tetralogy of Fallot who underwent cardiac MR examination incorporating cine MR imaging were retrospectively enrolled. The LV and RV longitudinal strain values were obtained by semi-automatically and manually. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed to determine the optimal cutoff of the minimum longitudinal strain value for the detection of patients with cardiac dysfunction. The correlations between manual and semi-automatic measurements for LV and RV walls were analyzed by Pearson coefficient analysis. ROC analysis demonstrated the optimal cut-off of the minimum longitudinal strain values (εL_min) for diagnoses the LV and RV dysfunction at a high accuracy (LV εL_min = -7.8 %: area under the curve, 0.89; sensitivity, 83 %; specificity, 91 %, RV εL_min = -15.7 %: area under the curve, 0.82; sensitivity, 92 %; specificity, 68 %). Excellent correlations between manual and semi-automatic measurements for LV and RV free wall were observed (LV, r = 0.97, p < 0.01; RV, r = 0.79, p < 0.01). Our semi-automatic longitudinal strain analysis in 4CH cine MR imaging can evaluate LV and RV dysfunction with simply and easy measurements. The strain analysis could have extensive application in cardiac imaging for various clinical cases.

Evaluation of cardiac dyssynchrony with longitudinal strain analysis in 4-chamber cine MR imaging.

PURPOSE: We investigated the clinical performance of evaluation of cardiac mechanical dyssynchrony with longitudinal strain analysis using four-chamber (4CH) cine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively enrolled 73 chronic heart failure patients (41 men, 32 women; mean age, 57 years, NYHA 2, 3, and 4) who underwent a cardiac MRI in the present study. The left ventricular dyssynchrony (LVD) and interventricular dyssynchrony (IVD) indices were calculated by longitudinal strain analysis using 4 CH cine MRI. The LVD and IVD indices were compared by the Wilcoxon rank-sum test between the patients with indication for cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) (n = 13) and without indication for CRT (n = 60), with LGE (n = 40) and without LGE (n = 27), the CRT responders (n = 8) and non-responders (n = 6), respectively. RESULTS: LVD in the patients with indication for CRT were significantly longer than those without indication for CRT (LVD: 92 ± 65 vs. 28 ± 40 ms, P<.01). LVD and IVD were significantly longer in the patients with LGE than those without LGE (LVD: 54 ± 58 vs. 21 ± 30 ms, P<.01 and IVD: 51 ± 39 vs. 23 ± 34 ms, P<.01). LVD and IVD in the CRT responders were significantly longer than the CRT non-responders (LVD: 126 ± 55 vs. 62 ± 55 ms, P<.01 and IVD: 96 ± 39 vs. 52 ± 40 ms, P<.05). CONCLUSION: Longitudinal strain analysis with 4CH cine MRI could be useful for clinical examination in the evaluation of cardiac mechanical dyssynchrony.