Left ventricular quantification with breath-hold MR imaging: comparison with echocardiography

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular Imaging
• Medical Physics
• Radiology

Background:

• Accurate quantification of left ventricular (LV) dimensions and function is crucial for diagnosing and managing cardiovascular diseases.
• Traditional magnetic resonance (MR) imaging techniques can be time-consuming, potentially limiting their clinical utility.
• Gradient-recalled-echo (GRE) sequences offer faster acquisition times, but their reproducibility in LV assessment needs thorough evaluation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the reproducibility of left ventricular (LV) dimensions, function, and myocardial mass measurements using a segmented k-space gradient-recalled-echo (GRE) magnetic resonance (MR) imaging sequence.
• To compare the reproducibility of MR imaging measurements between different imaging sessions (interstudy) and between different observers (interobserver and intraobserver).
• To compare the LV measurements obtained by MR imaging with those from two-dimensional echocardiography.

Main Methods:

• Twelve healthy volunteers underwent segmented k-space GRE MR imaging of the left ventricle on two separate occasions.
• Consecutive, contiguous short-axis views were acquired during end-diastole and end-systole under breath-hold, with total acquisition time limited to 12 minutes.
• Left ventricular (LV) volumes and masses were calculated after manual delineation of epicardial and endocardial surfaces by two blinded observers.
• Two-dimensional echocardiography was performed on all volunteers to determine LV dimensions and function for comparison.

Main Results:

• Interstudy variability for LV end-diastolic volume and end-systolic volume ranged from 4.1% to 10.3%.
• Interobserver variability for LV ejection fraction and end-diastolic volume ranged from 3.6% to 7.3%.
• Intraobserver variabilities for LV ejection fraction and end-systolic volume ranged from 2.0% to 7.0%.
• No significant differences were observed in LV dimensions or function between MR imaging and echocardiography.
• The observed variability percentages were comparable to those reported in other studies using different MR sequences.

Conclusions:

• The evaluated segmented k-space GRE MR imaging sequence allows for fast and reproducible quantification of left ventricular (LV) dimensions, function, and myocardial mass.
• This MR technique demonstrates good interstudy, interobserver, and intraobserver reproducibility.
• The findings suggest that this fast MR sequence is a reliable tool for clinical assessment of LV parameters, comparable to echocardiography.