How we scan cardiac anatomy and function using cardiovascular magnetic resonance: a practical video guide

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Imaging
• Medical Imaging Techniques
• Cardiac Mechanics

Background:

• Myocardial strain quantification is crucial for heart failure diagnostics.
• Fast strain-encoding (fSENC) offers rapid cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging acquisition.
• Practical implementation of fSENC in routine protocols requires exploration.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide a practical guide for cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) exams using fSENC.
• To assess the scan-rescan reproducibility of segmental strain analyses with fSENC.
• To demonstrate the utility of fSENC for quantitative analysis of global and regional heart function.

Main Methods:

• Demonstration of cine steady-state free precession (SSFP) and fSENC sequence acquisition on a 1.5T MRI scanner.
• Step-by-step video tutorial and image guide for fSENC acquisition.
• Evaluation of scan-rescan reproducibility for segmental longitudinal strain (SLS) and segmental circumferential strain (SCS).

Main Results:

• Excellent scan-rescan reproducibility was observed for SLS (0.93) and SCS (0.78-0.84) in immediate subsequent scans.
• Good to excellent reproducibility was found for SLS (0.80-0.84) and SCS (0.57-0.65) between scans with a break.
• fSENC acquisition was demonstrated effectively with SSFP sequences.

Conclusions:

• This video manuscript offers a practical guide for CMR exams incorporating fSENC.
• fSENC demonstrates high scan-rescan reproducibility, supporting its use in clinical practice.
• The technique facilitates quantitative analysis for assessing global and regional heart function.