Optimising the imaging plane for right ventricular magnetic resonance volume analysis in adult patients referred for assessment of right ventricular structure and function

IntroductionOur aim was to evaluate the reproducibility and accuracy of using short-axis and axial (transaxial) plane for magnetic resonance imaging analysis in adult patients referred for assessment of right ventricular (RV) structure and function. MethodsTwenty consecutive subjects (10 male, 10 female, mean age 32.214.8 years) who were referred for RV assessment and had cardiac magnetic resonance imaging were retrospectively selected. Axial and short-axis manual contouring was performed using cine steady-state free precession sequences by three experienced imaging specialists. The reproducibility of end diastolic volumes, end systolic volumes and ejection fraction was assessed with intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) and paired t-tests. Left ventricular stroke volume (LVSV) and RV stroke volumes (RVSV) were compared with concordance correlation coefficients (CCCs) and t-tests to determine accuracy. ResultsThe concordance between the RVSV and LVSV was good using both methods (axial RVSV CCC=0.93, short-axis RVSV CCC=0.86). Paired t-test and analysis of variance showed that the LV/RV stroke volume differences were not significant (p=0.17). There was slight improvement in interobserver reliability with end systolic volume measurements (axial ICC=0.92, short-axis ICC=0.81) but this failed to reach statistical significance (p=0.37). There was excellent intraobserver variability (ICC>0.9). ConclusionThis study shows that there is no statistically significant difference in reproducibility or accuracy using the short-axis or axial orientations in RV volume analysis in adult patients being referred for RV assessment.