Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 11, 2025
Murine Echocardiography of Left Atrium, Aorta, and Pulmonary Artery
Published on: February 20, 2017
Assessing diastolic function using CMR as an alternative to echocardiography: age- and gender-related normal
Lilly Charlotte Cirener1, Hermann Körperich2, Peter Barth1
1Institute for Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Heart and Diabetes Center North Rhine Westphalia, Ruhr-University of Bochum, Georgstr. 11, 32545, Bad Oeynhausen, Germany.
Insights
Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) provides reliable diastolic function assessment, showing age-dependent changes but minimal gender differences. This technique correlates well with echocardiography, offering a promising alternative for evaluating heart health.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Medical Imaging
- Physiology
Background:
- Impaired diastolic function is linked to various heart conditions like myocarditis and dilated cardiomyopathy.
- Echocardiography is the current standard for diastolic function assessment.
- Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) is emerging as a potentially superior alternative.
Purpose of the Study:
- To establish age- and gender-dependent normal reference values for diastolic function using CMR.
- To evaluate pulmonary venous (PV) and transmitral (MV) blood-flow parameters with CMR.
- To compare CMR-derived parameters with echocardiography findings.
Main Methods:
- Flow-sensitive phase-contrast CMR imaging was performed on 183 healthy individuals aged 10-70 years.
- Measurements included right upper pulmonary vein (RUPV) and mitral valve (MV) blood flow.
- Data analysis involved Pearson and Spearman correlations to assess age and gender dependencies and CMR-echocardiography agreement.
Main Results:
- Significant age-dependence was observed for PV S/D (r=0.718) and MV E/A (ρ=-0.736) ratios.
- Moderate age-dependence was noted for PV slope D-wave (r=0.394).
- CMR and echocardiography showed strong correlations for PV S/D (r=0.545) and MV E/A (ρ=0.692).
Conclusions:
- Diastolic functional parameters assessed by CMR exhibit significant age-related changes.
- Gender differences in these parameters are minimal, with a slight exception for MV slope E-wave.
- CMR is a viable and promising alternative to echocardiography for assessing diastolic function, demonstrating strong agreement in key parameters.
Background:
Impaired diastolic function is associated with a variety of diseases such as myocarditis or dilated cardiomyopathy. Currently, echocardiography is the standard method for assessing diastolic function. Recently, it has been postulated that cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) is an at least equivalent or superior alternative to echocardiography. To assess CMR-based age- and gender-dependent diastolic functional normal reference values, pulmonary venous and transmitral blood-flow parameters were examined in heart-healthy test persons.
Methods And Results:
Flow-sensitive phase-contrast CMR imaging was performed in the right upper pulmonary vein (RUPV) and at the level of the mitral valve (MV) in 183 healthy subjects (age 10-70 years; 97 women, 86 men). The data was distributed as evenly as possible across all groups. Strong age-dependence was observed for PV S/D; r = 0.718, p < 0.001 (Pearson product-moment correlation) and for transmitral MV E/A; ρ = -0.736, p < 0.001 (Spearman's Rho correlation). Moderate age-dependence was found for PV slope D-wave; r = 0.394, p < 0.001. Except for MV slope E-wave (male -292 cm/s2 interquartile range (IQR) {-338; -243} vs. female -319 ± 82 cm/s2; p = 0.047), no gender-related differences were observed. In a subgroup (N = 100), CMR data were compared with echocardiographic data. Strong correlation was found between CMR and echocardiography for PV S/D; r = 0.545, p < 0.001 and MV E/A; ρ = 0.692, p < 0.001.
Conclusion:
Diastolic functional parameters change with age, while gender-differences are small. CMR and echocardiography showed similar PV S/D and MV E/A ratios, making CMR a promising alternative for assessing diastolic function.
