Assessment of global right ventricular function on 64-MDCT compared with MRI

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular Imaging
• Radiology
• Cardiac Function Assessment

Background:

• Assessing global right ventricular (RV) function is crucial in diagnosing and managing cardiovascular diseases.
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is considered a gold standard for RV function assessment.
• Coronary CT angiography (CTA) is primarily used for coronary artery evaluation, but its potential for RV function assessment is being explored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the accuracy of ECG-gated 64-MDCT with MRI in assessing global RV function.
• To determine the reliability of RV function parameters derived from coronary CTA data.

Main Methods:

• Thirty-eight patients with suspected coronary artery disease underwent both contrast-enhanced 64-MDCT and 1.5-T MRI.
• RV end-diastolic volume (EDV), end-systolic volume (ESV), stroke volume (SV), and ejection fraction (EF) were calculated from both modalities.
• Statistical analysis included repeated-measures ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficients, and Bland-Altman plots.

Main Results:

• RV volumes and ejection fraction calculated from 64-MDCT showed excellent agreement with MRI.
• High correlation coefficients were observed for EDV (r=0.99), ESV (r=0.98), SV (r=0.98), and EF (r=0.97).
• Bland-Altman analysis revealed no systematic variation, and no statistically significant differences were found between the two techniques.

Conclusions:

• Retrospectively ECG-gated 64-MDCT provides a reliable method for assessing global RV function.
• This technique can be utilized even when contrast injection is optimized for coronary artery visualization.
• 64-MDCT offers a valuable, non-invasive tool for comprehensive cardiac assessment alongside coronary angiography.