Purpose
To evaluate aortic strain (AS) with MR imaging (MRI) in a population with different pathologic conditions,
taking into account flow data.
Methods and Materials
A total of 1,363 patients were included in the study.
The mean±sd age was 39.4±22.4 years.
Among them there were the following groups:
Condition
Number of patients
Normal cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR)
192
Congenital heart disease
225
Valvular heart disease
186
Thoracic aortic disease
143
Ischaemic and non-ischaemic cardiomiopathy
306
Other
311
TECHNIQUE
1.5 T MRI scanner with 12-channel coil
2D phase-contrast gradient recalled echo sequences with a through-plane velocity encoding gradient ranging from 150 to 350 cm/s
Voxel size 1.8 x 1.8 x 6...
Results
Average values:
Aortic strain
Minimum area
Maximum area
Forward volume
0.30 ±20
6.06±3.5 cm2
7.57±3.8 cm2
75±28 ml
AS decreased with age and was lower in male patients.
Fig. 5
AS was significantly different between subjects with normal CMR and various pathologic conditions
In particular,
AS was significantly lower in patients with congenital heart disease (0.29±0.18) and previous myocardial infarction (0.21±0.11) than in normal subjects (0.34±0.17) (p<0.01).
Fig. 6
AS/FV was more conservative than AS alone when comparing different groups.
Fig. 7
AS was different...
Conclusion
AS is a simple index to assess vascular compliance,
and along with other factors determines the patient’s cardiovascular risk profile.
Measuring and monitoring it,
especially in patients with congenital heart diseases,
is desirable and could have clinical implications.
AS/FV is a more conservative index whose applications require further study.
References
Redheuil A,
Yu WC,
Wu CO,
et al.
Reduced ascending aortic strain and distensibility: earliest manifestations of vascular aging in humans.
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Herment A,
Kachenoura N,
Lefort M,
et al.
Automated segmentation of the aorta from phase contrast MR images: validation against expert tracing in healthy volunteers and in patients with a dilated aorta.
J Magn Reson Imaging,
2010,
Vol.
31,
p.
881-888.
Jason T,
Christensen,
Jimmy CL,
et al.
Relation of Aortic Stiffness and Strain by Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance...