Measuring Cardiac Dyssynchrony with DENSE (Displacement Encoding with Stimulated Echoes)-A Systematic Review

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular Imaging
• Biomedical Engineering
• Medical Physics

Background:

• Myocardial dyssynchrony evaluation is crucial for diagnosing and managing various cardiac conditions.
• Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance (CMR) imaging offers advanced techniques for assessing cardiac function.
• Displacement Encoding with Stimulated Echoes (DENSE) is an emerging CMR method for quantifying myocardial motion.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review research on the DENSE method for measuring myocardial dyssynchrony over the past two decades.
• To compare DENSE with other techniques used for evaluating cardiac dyssynchrony.
• To discuss the potential clinical applications of DENSE in cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging.

Main Methods:

• A systematic literature search was conducted across Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, and Cochrane databases.
• Search terms included variations of DENSE, dyssynchrony, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI/CMR).
• Included studies focused on DENSE for cardiac dyssynchrony, excluding reviews and case reports.

Main Results:

• DENSE demonstrated high reproducibility in assessing myocardial dyssynchrony.
• The method showed utility in identifying cardiac resynchronisation therapy (CRT) responders and optimizing CRT settings.
• Studies revealed correlations between cardiac fibrosis and mechanical dyssynchrony, and reduced left ventricular synchrony in obese mice.

Conclusions:

• DENSE is a promising tool for quantifying myocardial function and dyssynchrony, offering advantages over existing methods.
• Challenges include the time-consuming nature of DENSE imaging and analysis.
• Advancements in imaging, analysis, and AI may facilitate broader clinical adoption of DENSE.