[Cardiac functional analysis with MRI]

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Radiology
• Medical Imaging

Context:

• Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are a primary global cause of mortality.
• Accurate cardiac function assessment is crucial for effective treatment and patient monitoring.
• Cardiac MRI is a key diagnostic tool in modern medicine.

Purpose:

• To outline the role and methodology of MRI in cardiac function analysis.
• To highlight cine-MRI as the standard of reference for evaluating cardiac mechanics.
• To detail the process of cardiac MRI acquisition and post-processing for functional assessment.

Summary:

• Cine-MRI, utilizing ECG-triggered steady-state free precession (SSFP) sequences, offers rapid acquisition and superior contrast for cardiac imaging.
• Precise examination planning and coverage of the entire ventricle in short axial slices are essential.
• Post-processing involves manual or semi-automatic segmentation of myocardial borders to calculate key functional parameters like end-diastolic volume (EDV), end-systolic volume (ESV), and ejection fraction (EF), alongside detecting regional wall motion abnormalities (RWMA).

Impact:

• Establishes cine-MRI as the gold standard for cardiac function assessment.
• Enables accurate diagnosis and monitoring of cardiovascular conditions.
• Facilitates personalized therapy planning and improves patient outcomes through detailed functional analysis.