Cardiac MR Assessment of Diastolic Function
Thomas Kennedy1, Niti Aggarwal2, Christopher Francois1, Mark Schiebler1, and Jeremy Collins3

1Radiology, University of Wisconsin- Madison, Madison, WI, United States, 2Cardiology, Univesity of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States, 3Radiology, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States

Synopsis

Diastolic dysfunction is the primary cause of CHF in 40-60% of patients with heart failure in the United States and has been shown to lead to poor outcomes. Early diagnosis and treatment of the causes of diastolic dysfunction is effective in relieving symptoms and reducing mortality. The non- invasive methods which can be used to assess diastolic function include cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging. The purpose of this educational poster is to describe the CMR techniques which can be used to evaluate diastolic function and review the CMR findings of this disorder.

Purpose

Diastolic dysfunction is the primary cause of CHF in 40-60% of patients with heart failure in the United States (1). Furthermore, diastolic dysfunction, in the setting of normal ejection fraction, has been shown to lead to poor outcomes (2). Early diagnosis and treatment of diastolic dysfunction is important in ameliorating symptoms and reducing mortality (3). There are invasive and noninvasive methods which can be used to assess diastolic function including invasive cardiac angiography (ICA), echocardiography and cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging. The purpose of this educational poster is to (A) review the pathophysiology of diastolic dysfunction, (B) discuss CMR techniques which can be used to evaluate diastolic function and (C) review the CMR findings of diastolic dysfunction.

Outline of Content

1. Background

a. Definition of diastolic dysfunction

b. Review of the pathophysiology of diastolic dysfunction and the non CMR diagnostic methods

c. Common causes (HTN, Amyloid, Atrial fibrillation, Diabetes, Sarcoidosis)

d. Survival without and with therapy

e.Current methods for diagnosis using catheterization and echocardiography.

2. CMR techniques used to evaluate diastolic function

a. Phase contrast (PC) MRI

i. Basic PC physics

ii. Applications for diastolic function

1.Transmitral velocity

a. E, A, E/A ratio, deceleration time of E wave

2. Tissue phase mapping

a. Regional myocardial velocities

b. E’, A’, E/E’

3. Pulmonary Vein Velocity

b. Cine balanced steady state free precession (bSSFP)

i. Cine bSSFP physics

ii. Applications for diastolic function

1. Ventricular volume analysis

a. Peak filling rate

b. Time to peak filling rate

2. Myocardial strain analysis

a. Feature Tracking

b. Heart Deformation Analysis

3. Techniques to assess left atrial size

c. Myocardial Tagging

i. Tagging physics

ii. Applications for diastolic function

1. Assess deformation of myocardium

a. Strain, strain rate, twisting/untwisting

d. Additional tissue characterization sequences

i. T1/T2 mapping, late gadolinium enhancement

1. Identify specific etiologies of diastolic dysfunction

e. Pitfalls/limitations of MR techniques for assessment of diastolic dysfunction

3. CMR findings in diastolic dysfunction: Case examples of normal and abnormal diastolic function with CMR

Summary

CMR is an effective noninvasive method for evaluating diastolic function, with good correlation between echocardiography and CMR in evaluating diastolic function (1,2). After reviewing this educational exhibit, the cardiac imager should become more cognizant of the CMR techniques used to assess diastolic function and recognize the CMR findings in diastolic dysfunction.

Acknowledgements

No acknowledgement found.

References

1. Rathi V, et al. Journal of Cardiolvasc Magn Reson 2008, 10:36.

2. Bollche E, et al. Journal of Cardiovasc Magn Reson 2010, 12:63.

3. Angeja B, Grossman W. Circulation 2003, 107:659-663.

Figures

Figure 1. CMR sequences frequently used to assess patients with diastolic dysfunction. (A) Transmitral 2D PC; (B) Myocardial velocity 2DPC; (C) CINE bSSFP; (D) myocardial tagging; (E) late gadolinium enhancement; (F) T1 mapping.

Figure 2. Examples of quantitative analyses from CMR data. (A) Transmitral flow velocities used to calculate E, A, and E/A; (B) Myocardial velocities used to calculate E’, A’, and E/E’; (C) Volumetric analysis of Cine bSSFP used to calculate peak filling rate (PFR).



Proc. Intl. Soc. Mag. Reson. Med. 24 (2016)
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