[Verification of accuracy of several algorithms to quantitate left ventricular regional wall motion: a study using...

To verify the accuracy of several algorithms used to quantitate left ventricular (LV) regional wall motion, five volunteers were examined by cine MR imaging with presaturation myocardial tagging in short-axis and 4-chamber sections. Three algorithms for the wall motion analysis, radial, centerline, and originally developed "modified-Hildreth" methods, were applied to the cine MR images, and dissociation of the end-systolic position of the tags estimated by each algorithm from the true position was examined. The modified-Hildreth method was comparable in accuracy to the other methods for estimating end-systolic tag position. Significantly worse estimation of the tag position by the three algorithms occurred in the 4-chamber section compared with the short-axis section (p < 0.001, 0.005), indicating difficulties in the wall motion analysis of "long-axis" LV images. Among the algorithms, the centerline method showed the highest accuracy of the estimation in the 4-chamber section, and the modified-Hildreth method was the best in the short-axis section. In the 4-chamber section, correction of the position of end-diastolic and end-systolic images around the luminal centroids improved the estimation (p < 0.01, 0.05). Tagging cine MR imaging was proved to be useful for determining the most suitable algorithm for quantitative wall motion analysis of LV images obtained from conventional angiocardiography and other imaging modalities.