Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 25, 2026
Quantification of Mouse Heart Left Ventricular Function, Myocardial Strain, and Hemodynamic Forces by Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Published on: May 24, 2021
[Left ventricular function, volumes, and mass in MRI studies using SFPP versus FLASH sequences in an animal model.]
G Bastarrika1, J J Gavira, G Abizanda
1Servicio de Radiología, Clínica Universitaria, Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, España. bastarrika@unav.es
Objective:
To compare the accuracy of two cine-gradient-echo sequences to quantify left ventricular function, volumes, and mass in an animal model.
Material And Methods:
We studied ten Gottingen miniature pigs (seven male, three female; mean weight 49.8+/-10.65kg; range: 35-65kg) with a 1.5 Tesla MRI scanner using free-breathing SSFP and FLASH sequences. We used 8-mm short-axis images to estimate left ventricular ejection fraction (EF), volumes (end-diastolic (EDV), end-systolic (ESV), and stroke volume (SV)), mass, and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) on SSFP and FLASH sequences. We analyzed the correlation and concordance of the two sequences for each variable.
Results:
Using the SSFP sequence, the mean estimated EF was 77.35+/-3.13%; mean EDV 61.55+/-8.64ml; mean ESV 13.83+/-1.92ml; mean SV 47.72+/-7.78ml; and mean myocardial mass 75.87+/-11.44g. Using the FLASH sequence, the mean EF was 81.87+/-2.22%; mean EDV 55.4+/-8.08ml; mean ESV 10.03+/-1.87ml; mean SV 45.38+/-6.83ml; and mean myocardial mass 87.74+/-15.21g. The correlation between SSFP and FLASH to quantify EDV, SV, and myocardial mass was excellent (r>0.8) and moderate (r>0.4) for quantifying ESV and EF. The SNR in the SSFP sequence was significantly higher than in the FLASH sequence (mean difference 120.94+/-42.94).
Conclusions:
In the SSFP sequence, ventricular volumes are slightly higher and ventricular mass is slightly lower than in the FLASH sequence, probably because of the higher SNR on SSFP sequences.
