Stress and Rest Pulmonary Transit Times Assessed by Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance

Acquiring pulmonary circulation parameters as a potential marker of cardiopulmonary function is not new. Methods to obtain these parameters have been developed over time, with the latest being first-pass perfusion sequences in cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR). Even though more data on these parameters has been recently published, different nomenclature and acquisition methods are used across studies; some works even reported conflicting data. The most commonly used circulation parameters obtained using CMR include pulmonary transit time (PTT) and pulmonary transit beats (PTB). PTT is the time needed for a contrast agent (typically gadolinium-based) to circulate from the right ventricle (RV) to the left ventricle (LV). PTB is the number of cardiac cycles the process takes. Some authors also include corrected heart rate (HR) versions along with standard PTT. Besides other methods, CMR offers an option to assess stress circulation parameters, but data are minimal. This review aims to summarize the up-to-date findings and provide an overview of the latest progress on this promising, dynamically evolving topic.