New cardiac MRI protocol provides complete heart study in less than a minute: Study
Spain: A new MRI technique allows complete cardiac examination in less than a minute, according to a recent study in the journal JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging.
The technique, called SENSE by static outer-volume subtraction (ESSOS), is developed by Royal Philips and the Spanish National Center for Cardiovascular Research, and is based on the fact that -- except for the heart -- a patient's chest anatomy remains stationary during a breath-hold exam.
Cardiac magnetic resonance is the reference tool for cardiac imaging but is time-consuming. SandraGómez-Talavera, Department of Cardiology, IIS-Hospital Fundacion Jiménez Díaz, Madrid, Spain, and colleague, therefore, aimed to clinically validate a novel 3-dimensional (3D) ultrafast cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) protocol including cine (anatomy and function) and late gadolinium enhancement (LGE), each in a single breath-hold.
In a prospective study of 107 patients, the researchers compared protocol comprising isotropic 3D cine (Enhanced sensitivity encoding [SENSE] by Static Outer volume Subtraction [ESSOS]) and isotropic 3D LGE sequences with a standard cine+LGE protocol. Left ventricular (LV) mass, volumes, and LV and right ventricular (RV) ejection fraction (LVEF, RVEF) were assessed by 3D ESSOS and 2D cine CMR. LGE (% LV) was assessed using 3D and 2D sequences.
The study revealed the following findings:
- Three-dimensional and LGE acquisitions lasted 24 and 22 s, respectively.
- Three-dimensional and LGE images were of good quality and allowed quantification in all cases.
- Mean LVEF by 3D and 2D CMR were 51 ± 12% and 52 ± 12%, respectively, with excellent intermethod agreement (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC]: 0.96) and insignificant bias.
- Mean RVEF 3D and 2D CMR were 60.4 ± 5.4% and 59.7 ± 5.2%, respectively, with acceptable intermethod agreement (ICC: 0.73) and insignificant bias.
- Both 2D and 3D LGE showed excellent agreement, and intraobserver and interobserver agreement were excellent for 3D LGE.
Based on the findings the team concluded that ESSOS single breath-hold 3D CMR allows accurate assessment of heart anatomy and function.
"Combining ESSOS with 3D LGE allows complete cardiac examination in <1 min of acquisition time. This protocol expands the indication for CMR, reduces costs, and increases patient comfort," they wrote.
Reference:
The study titled, "Clinical Validation of a 3-Dimensional Ultrafast Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Protocol Including Single Breath-Hold 3-Dimensional Sequences," is published in the journal JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging.
DOI: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1936878X21002849
