Evaluation of global left ventricular function assessment by dual-source computed tomography compared with MRI.

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular Imaging
• Radiology
• Cardiac Diagnostics

Background:

• Accurate assessment of left ventricular (LV) function is critical for predicting patient prognosis in various cardiac diseases.
• Dual-source computed tomography (DSCT) is increasingly used for cardiac imaging, but its utility in LV function assessment requires validation against established methods.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the accuracy of left ventricular (LV) function parameters derived from dual-source computed tomography (DSCT) against magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the current reference standard.
• To evaluate the interchangeability of LV functional parameters obtained through DSCT in routine clinical practice.

Main Methods:

• Thirty-four patients with cardiac indications underwent both DSCT and MRI examinations.
• Short-axis cine images were reconstructed from DSCT datasets using specialized software to derive global LV functional parameters.
• DSCT-derived parameters were statistically compared with those obtained from MRI.

Main Results:

• DSCT showed minor overestimations in end-diastolic volume (11.0 ml) and end-systolic volume (3.5 ml) compared to MRI.
• Myocardial mass was slightly underestimated by DSCT (-0.2 g).
• Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was overestimated by 0.4%-point, with a Bland-Altman interval of [-8.67, 9.48], indicating good agreement.

Conclusions:

• Global LV functional parameters calculated from clinical DSCT datasets demonstrate good correlation with MRI and can be considered interchangeable.
• Visual assessment of DSCT image quality is essential to identify potential artifacts that might affect the accuracy of LV function analysis.