Left ventricle diastolic vortex ring characterization in ischemic cardiomyopathy: insight into atrio-ventricular interplay

Diastolic vortex ring (VR) plays a key role in the blood-pumping function exerted by the left ventricle (LV), with altered VR structures being associated with LV dysfunction. Herein, we sought to characterize the VR diastolic alterations in ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM) patients with systo-diastolic LV dysfunction, as compared to healthy controls, in order to provide a more comprehensive understanding of LV diastolic function. 4D Flow MRI data were acquired in ICM patients (n = 15) and healthy controls (n = 15). The λ₂ method was used to extract VRs during early and late diastolic filling. Geometrical VR features, e.g., circularity index (CI), orientation (α), and inclination with respect to the LV outflow tract (ß), were extracted. Kinetic energy (KE), rate of viscous energy loss ( $\dot{\mathrm{EL}}$ ), vorticity (W), and volume (V) were computed for each VR; the ratios with the respective quantities computed for the entire LV were derived. At peak E-wave, the VR was less circular (p = 0.032), formed a smaller α with the LV long-axis (p = 0.003) and a greater ß (p = 0.002) in ICM patients as compared to controls. At peak A-wave, CI was significantly increased (p = 0.034), while α was significantly smaller (p = 0.016) and β was significantly increased (p = 0.036) in ICM as compared to controls. At both peak E-wave and peak A-wave, ${\dot{\mathrm{EL}}}_{\mathrm{VR}}/{\dot{\mathrm{EL}}}_{\mathrm{LV}}$ , W_VR/W_LV, and V_VR/V_LV significantly decreased in ICM patients vs. healthy controls. KE_VR/V_VR showed a significant decrease in ICM patients with respect to controls at peak E-wave, while V_VR remained comparable between normal and pathologic conditions. In the analyzed ICM patients, the diastolic VRs showed alterations in terms of geometry and energetics. These derangements might be attributed to both structural and functional alterations affecting the infarcted wall region and the remote myocardium.