High-temporal velocity-encoded MRI for the assessment of left ventricular inflow propagation velocity: Comparison with color M-mode echocardiography

PurposeTo develop an alternative method for Vp-assessment using high-temporal velocity-encoded magnetic resonance imaging (VE-MRI). Left ventricular (LV) inflow propagation velocity (Vp) is considered a useful parameter in the complex assessment of LV diastolic function and is measured by Color M-mode echocardiography. Materials and MethodsA total of 43 patients diagnosed with ischemic heart failure (6111 years) and 22 healthy volunteers (2913 years) underwent Color M-mode echocardiography and VE-MRI to assess the inflow velocity through the mitral valve (mean interexamination time 14 days). Temporal resolution of VE-MRI was 10.8-11.8 msec. Local LV inflow velocity was sampled along a 4-cm line starting from the tip of the mitral leaflets and for consecutive sample points the point-in-time was assessed when local velocity exceeded 30 cm/s. From the position-time relation, Vp was calculated by both the difference quotient (Vp-MRI-DQ) as well as from linear regression (Vp-MRI-LR). ResultsGood correlation was found between Vp-echo and both Vp-MRI-DQ (r=0.83, P<0.001) and Vp-MRI-LR (r=0.84, P<0.001). Vp-MRI showed a significant but small underestimation as compared to Vp measured by echocardiography (Vp-MRI-DQ: 5.5 +/- 16.2 cm/s, P=0.008; Vp-MRI-LR: 9.9 +/- 15.2 cm/s, P<0.001). Applying age-related cutoff values for Vp to identify LV impaired relaxation, kappa-agreement with echocardiography was 0.72 (P<0.001) for Vp-MRI-DQ and 0.69 (P<0.001) for Vp-MRI-LR. ConclusionHigh temporal VE-MRI represents a novel approach to assess Vp, showing good correlation with Color M-mode echocardiography. In healthy subjects and patients with ischemic heart failure, this new method demonstrated good agreement with echocardiography to identify LV impaired relaxation. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2015;42:1297-1304.