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In Vivo Quantitative Assessment of Myocardial Structure, Function, Perfusion and Viability Using Cardiac Micro-computed Tomography
Published on: February 16, 2016
Quantitative evaluation of myocardial function by a volume-normalized map generated from relative blood flow.
Tadanori Fukami1, Hidenori Sato, Jin Wu
1Department of Bio-system Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Yamagata University, Yonezawa, Yamagata 992-8510, Japan. fukami@yz-yamagata-u.ac.jp
Physics in Medicine and Biology
|August 1, 2007
Summary
This study quantitatively assessed left ventricular blood flow in apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (APH) using cardiac MRI and SPECT. Results show significantly reduced blood flow per unit volume in the APH apex, aiding diagnosis.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Medical Imaging
- Biophysics
Background:
- Apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (APH) is a form of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy characterized by thickening of the left ventricular apex.
- Accurate quantitative assessment of myocardial blood flow in APH is crucial for diagnosis and management.
- Current imaging techniques may not fully capture the volumetric changes in blood flow within the hypertrophied myocardium.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantitatively evaluate blood flow in the left ventricle (LV) of patients with apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (APH).
- To combine cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for wall thickness and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) for myocardial perfusion.
- To develop a method for calculating blood flow per unit myocardial volume to distinguish APH from normal cases.
Main Methods:
- Paired MRI and myocardial perfusion SPECT data from ten APH patients and ten healthy controls were analyzed.
- Myocardial walls were detected using a level set method.
- Blood flow per unit myocardial volume was calculated using 3D surface-based registration between MRI and SPECT images, with relative blood flow defined by the maximum in the myocardial region.
- Bull's-eye maps were generated to visualize wall thickness, blood flow, and blood flow per unit volume.
Main Results:
- Wall detection and registration accuracies were approximately 2.50 mm and 2.95 mm, respectively.
- Patients with APH exhibited LV wall thicknesses exceeding 10 mm.
- A significant decrease in blood flow per unit myocardial volume was detected in the cardiac apex of APH patients.
- The relative unit blood flow in the apex of the APH group was found to be 1/7th that of the normal group.
Conclusions:
- Quantitative assessment combining MRI-derived wall thickness and SPECT-derived blood flow effectively evaluates myocardial perfusion in APH.
- Normalization of blood flow by myocardial volume is a key differentiator for APH, particularly in cases where SPECT findings may resemble normal distributions.
- This integrated imaging approach enhances the diagnostic capability for identifying apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
