Objectives We sought to establish the prognostic value of a comprehensive cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) examination in risk stratification of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) patients. ...Background With annual mortality rates ranging between 1% and 5%, depending on patient selection, a small but significant number of HCM patients are at risk for an adverse event. Therefore, the identification of and prophylactic therapy (i.e., defibrillator placement) in patients with HCM who are at risk of dying are imperative. Methods Two-hundred forty-three consecutive patients with HCM were prospectively enrolled. All patients underwent initial CMR, and 220 were available for clinical follow-up. The mean follow-up time was 1,090 days after CMR. End points were all-cause and cardiac mortality. Results During follow-up 20 of the 220 patients died, and 2 patients survived sudden cardiac death due to adequate implantable cardioverter-defibrillator discharge. Most events (n = 16) occurred for cardiac reasons; the remaining 6 events were related to cancer and accidents. Our data indicate that the presence of scar visualized by CMR yields an odds ratio of 5.47 for all-cause mortality and of 8.01 for cardiac mortality. This might be superior to classic clinical risk factors, because in our dataset the presence of 2 risk factors yields an odds ratio of 3.86 for all-cause and of 2.20 for cardiac mortality, respectively. Multivariable analysis also revealed the presence of late gadolinium enhancement as a good independent predictor of death in HCM patients. Conclusions Among our population of largely low or asymptomatic HCM patients, the presence of scar indicated by CMR is a good independent predictor of all-cause and cardiac mortality.
The aim of this study was to compare transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) with the Acurate neo (NEO) and Evolut PRO (PRO) devices.
The NEO and PRO bioprostheses are 2 next-generation ...self-expanding devices developed for TAVR.
The NEOPRO (A Multicenter Comparison of Acurate NEO Versus Evolut PRO Transcatheter Heart Valves) registry retrospectively included patients who underwent transfemoral TAVR with either NEO or PRO valves at 24 centers between January 2012 and March 2018. One-to-one propensity score matching resulted in 251 pairs. Pre-discharge and 30-day Valve Academic Research Consortium (VARC)-2 defined outcomes were evaluated. Binary logistic regression was performed to adjust the treatment effect for propensity score quintiles.
A total of 1,551 patients (n = 1,263 NEO; n = 288 PRO) were included. The mean age was 82 years, and the mean Society of Thoracic Surgeons score was 5.1%. After propensity score matching (n = 502), VARC-2 device success (90.6% vs. 91.6%; p = 0.751) and pre-discharge moderate to severe (II+) paravalvular aortic regurgitation (7.3% vs. 5.7%; p = 0.584) were comparable between the NEO and PRO groups. Furthermore, there were no significant differences in any 30-day clinical outcome between matched NEO and PRO pairs, including all-cause mortality (3.2% vs. 1.2%; p = 0.221), stroke (2.4% vs. 2.8%; p = 1.000), new permanent pacemaker implantation (11.0% vs. 12.8%; p = 0.565), and VARC-2 early safety endpoint (10.6% vs. 10.4%; p = 1.000). Logistic regression on the unmatched cohort confirmed a similar risk of VARC-2 device success, paravalvular aortic regurgitation II+, and 30-day clinical outcomes after NEO and PRO implantation.
In this multicenter registry, transfemoral TAVR with the NEO and PRO bioprostheses was associated with high device success, acceptable rates of paravalvular aortic regurgitation II+, and good 30-day clinical outcomes. After adjusting for potential confounders, short-term outcomes were similar between the devices.
This study introduced and validated a novel flow-independent delayed enhancement technique that shows hyperenhanced myocardium while simultaneously suppressing blood-pool signal.
The diagnosis and ...assessment of myocardial infarction (MI) is crucial in determining clinical management and prognosis. Although delayed enhancement cardiac magnetic resonance (DE-CMR) is an in vivo reference standard for imaging MI, an important limitation is poor delineation between hyperenhanced myocardium and bright LV cavity blood-pool, which may cause many infarcts to become invisible.
A canine model with pathology as the reference standard was used for validation (n = 22). Patients with MI and normal controls were studied to ascertain clinical performance (n = 31).
In canines, the flow-independent dark-blood delayed enhancement (FIDDLE) technique was superior to conventional DE-CMR for the detection of MI, with higher sensitivity (96% vs. 85%, respectively; p = 0.002) and accuracy (95% vs. 87%, respectively; p = 0.01) and with similar specificity (92% vs, 92%, respectively; p = 1.0). In infarcts that were identified by both techniques, the entire length of the endocardial border between infarcted myocardium and adjacent blood-pool was visualized in 33% for DE-CMR compared with 100% for FIDDLE. There was better agreement for FIDDLE-measured infarct size than for DE-CMR infarct size (95% limits-of-agreement, 2.1% vs. 5.5%, respectively; p < 0.0001). In patients, findings were similar. FIDDLE demonstrated higher accuracy for diagnosis of MI than DE-CMR (100% 95% confidence interval CI: 89% to 100% vs. 84% 95% CI: 66% to 95%, respectively; p = 0.03).
The study introduced and validated a novel CMR technique that improves the discrimination of the border between infarcted myocardium and adjacent blood-pool. This dark-blood technique provides diagnostic performance that is superior to that of the current in vivo reference standard for the imaging diagnosis of MI.
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After acute myocardial infarction (MI), delineating the area-at-risk (AAR) is crucial for measuring how much, if any, ischemic myocardium has been salvaged. T2-weighted MRI is promoted as an ...excellent method to delineate the AAR. However, the evidence supporting the validity of this method to measure the AAR is indirect, and it has never been validated with direct anatomic measurements.
To determine whether T2-weighted MRI delineates the AAR.
Twenty-one canines and 24 patients with acute MI were studied. We compared bright-blood and black-blood T2-weighted MRI with images of the AAR and MI by histopathology in canines and with MI by in vivo delayed-enhancement MRI in canines and patients. Abnormal regions on MRI and pathology were compared by (a) quantitative measurement of the transmural-extent of the abnormality and (b) picture matching of contours. We found no relationship between the transmural-extent of T2-hyperintense regions and that of the AAR (bright-blood-T2: r=0.06, P=0.69; black-blood-T2: r=0.01, P=0.97). Instead, there was a strong correlation with that of infarction (bright-blood-T2: r=0.94, P<0.0001; black-blood-T2: r=0.95, P<0.0001). Additionally, contour analysis demonstrated a fingerprint match of T2-hyperintense regions with the intricate contour of infarcted regions by delayed-enhancement MRI. Similarly, in patients there was a close correspondence between contours of T2-hyperintense and infarcted regions, and the transmural-extent of these regions were highly correlated (bright-blood-T2: r=0.82, P<0.0001; black-blood-T2: r=0.83, P<0.0001).
T2-weighted MRI does not depict the AAR. Accordingly, T2-weighted MRI should not be used to measure myocardial salvage, either to inform patient management decisions or to evaluate novel therapies for acute MI.
Safety and feasibility of transfemoral Acurate neo implantation without systematic predilatation are not fully investigated. Our aim was to evaluate the use and impact of pre-implantation balloon ...aortic valvuloplasty (pre-BAV) before transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) with Acurate neo. The NEOPRO Registry retrospectively included 1,263 patients who underwent transfemoral TAVI with Acurate neo at 18 centers between January 2012 and March 2018. Information on pre-BAV was available for 1,262 patients (99.9%). Primary end points were pre-discharge moderate-to-severe paravalvular aortic regurgitation (PAR II+), 30-day new permanent pacemaker implantation, and 30-day all-cause mortality or stroke. A total of 1,262 patients who underwent TAVI with (n = 1,051) or without predilatation (n = 211) were included. A reduction in the pre-BAV rate was observed during the study period (from 95.7% in the first date quintile to 78.4% in the last date quintile). Patients who underwent pre-BAV had higher degrees of aortic valve (AV) and left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) calcification. Primary endpoints were similar between pre-BAV and no pre-BAV groups (PAR II+ 5.5% vs 3.4%, p = 0.214; 30-day permanent pacemaker implantation 9.0% vs 8.0%, p = 0.660; 30-day death or stroke 4.9% vs 4.4%, p = 0.743). The need for postdilatation and other procedural outcomes were comparable between groups. Predilatation did not have a significant impact on primary endpoints across AV and LVOT calcification subgroups (subgroup analyses) and was not independently associated with primary endpoints (multivariate analyses). In conclusion, transfemoral Acurate neo implantation without predilatation appears to be feasible and safe, especially in patients with milder degrees of AV and LVOT calcification.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence and prognostic importance of the cardiac MRI finding of right ventricular involvement in patients with acute ST-segment elevation ...myocardial infarction (MI).
Fifty patients (41 men, nine women; mean age, 58 +/- 11 years) with first-ST-segment elevation MI underwent 1.5-T cardiac MRI immediately after successful percutaneous coronary intervention. The cardiac MRI protocol included steady-state free precession cine sequences for functional assessment of the left, right, and both ventricles and inversion recovery FLASH delayed enhancement sequences after contrast administration for the quantification of myocardial damage. The prevalence of right ventricular involvement detected with ECG and echocardiography was compared with the prevalence detected with cardiac MRI, which was the reference standard. Patients underwent follow-up for 32 +/- 8 months.
Right ventricular involvement was diagnosed with cardiac MRI in 27 patients (54%): 14 of 30 patients (47%) with inferior ST-segment elevation MI and 13 of 20 patients (65%) with anterior ST-segment elevation MI. ECG and echocardiographic findings showed only moderate agreement with cardiac MRI findings in the detection of right ventricular involvement in inferior acute MI (kappa = 0.38). Patients with right ventricular involvement in anterior ST-segment elevation MI had larger infarcts (delayed enhancement, 25.9% +/- 14.5% vs 11.4% +/- 10.1%; p = 0.030), lower left ventricular ejection fraction (34.3% +/- 8.2% vs 45.2% +/- 9.5%; p < 0.015), and lower right ventricular ejection fraction (39.8% +/- 6.6% vs 54.9% +/- 8.8%; p < 0.001) than those without right ventricular involvement. In a multivariate logistic regression model, right ventricular involvement was a strong independent predictor (odds ratio, 15.8; 95% CI, 4-63%) of major cardiac adverse events.
Right ventricular involvement in ST-segment elevation MI is detected more frequently with cardiac MRI than with ECG and echocardiography and is an independent prognostic indicator.
Despite clinical use of late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) for two decades, an efficient, robust fat suppression (FS) technique still does not exist for this CMR mainstay. In ischemic and non‐ischemic ...heart disease, differentiating fibrotic tissue from infiltrating and adjacent fat is crucial. Multiple groups have independently developed an FS technique for LGE, double spectral attenuated inversion recovery (DSPAIR), but no comprehensive evaluation was performed. This study aims to fill this gap. DSPAIR uses two SPAIR pulses and one non‐selective IR pulse to enable FS LGE, including compatibility with phase sensitive inversion recovery (PSIR). We implemented a magnitude (MAGN) and a PSIR variant and compared them with LGE without FS (CONTROL) and with spectral presaturation with inversion recovery (SPIR) in simulations, phantoms, and patients. Fat magnetization by SPIR, MAGN DSPAIR, and PSIR DSPAIR was simulated as a function of pulse B1, readout (RO) pulse number, and fat TI. A phantom with fat, fibrosis, and myocardium compartments was imaged using all FS methods and modifying pulse B1, RO pulse number, and heart rate. Signal was measured in SNR units. Fat, myocardium, and fibrosis SNR and fibrosis‐to‐fat CNR were obtained. Patient images were acquired with all FS techniques. Fat, myocardium, and fibrosis SNR, fibrosis‐to‐fat CNR, and image and FS quality were assessed. In the phantom, both DSPAIR variants provided superior FS compared with SPIR, independent of heart rate and RO pulse number. MAGN DSPAIR reduced fat signal by 99% compared with CONTROL, PSIR DSPAIR by 116%, and SPIR by 67% (25 RO pulses). In patients, both DSPAIR variants substantially reduced fat signal (MAGN DSPAIR by 87.1% ± 10.0%, PSIR DSPAIR by 130.5% ± 36.3%), but SPIR did not (35.8% ± 25.5%). FS quality was good to excellent for MAGN and PSIR DSPAIR, and moderate to poor for SPIR. DSPAIR provided highly effective FS across a wide range of parameters. PSIR DSPAIR performed best.
Double spectral attenuated inversion recovery (DSPAIR) provided highly effective fat suppression for late gadolinium enhancement across a wide range of parameters while offering compatibility with phase sensitive inversion recovery (PSIR). The DSPAIR magnitude and PSIR variants outperformed the common spectral presaturation with inversion recovery (SPIR) technique regarding fat signal reduction and fibrosis‐fat CNR, in simulations, phantoms, and patients. PSIR DSPAIR scored best, with a 131% fat signal reduction (magnitude DSPAIR 87%, SPIR 36%) in patients.
T1 mapping allows quantitative myocardial assessment, but its value in clinical routine remains unclear. We investigated, whether the average native myocardial T1 value can be used as a diagnostic ...classifier between healthy and diffuse diseased myocardium.
Native T1 mapping was performed in 54 persons with healthy hearts and in 150 patients with diffuse myocardial pathologies (coronary artery disease (CAD): n = 76, acute myocarditis: n = 19, convalescent myocarditis: n = 26, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM): n = 12, dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM): n = 17) at 1.5 Tesla in a mid-ventricular short axis slice using a modified Look-Locker inversion recovery (MOLLI) sequence. The average native myocardial T1 value was measured using dedicated software for each patient. The mean as well as the range of the observed average T1 values were calculated for each group, and compared using t-test. The ability of T1 mapping to differentiate between healthy and diffuse diseased myocardium was assessed using receiver operating characteristic analysis (ROC).
The mean T1 value of the group "healthy hearts" (955±34ms) differed significantly from that of the groups DCM (992±37ms, p<0.001), HCM (980±44ms, p = 0.035), and acute myocarditis (974±36ms, p = 0.044). No significant difference was observed between the groups "healthy hearts" and CAD (951±37ms, p = 0.453) or convalescent myocarditis (965±40ms, p = 0.240). The average native T1 value varied considerably within all groups (range: healthy hearts, 838-1018ms; DCM, 882-1034ms; HCM, 897-1043ms; acute myocarditis, 925-1025ms; CAD, 867-1082ms; convalescent myocarditis, 890-1071ms) and overlapped broadly between all groups. ROC analysis showed, that the average native T1 value does not allow for differentiating between healthy and diffuse diseased myocardium, except for the subgroup of DCM.
The average native T1 value in cardiac MR imaging does not allow differentiating between healthy and diffusely diseased myocardium in individual cases.
Background
Blood glucose level at admission in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is a predictor of heart failure and mortality. This study was performed to investigate the impact of ...hyperglycemia at admission in non-diabetic patients on infarct size, microvascular obstruction, and long-term outcome using contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) in patients with acute STEMI.
Methods
One hundred and seven consecutive patients (84 males; mean age 59.4 years ± 11.3 years) with a first acute STEMI successfully treated by primary PCI were included. Admission hyperglycemia was defined as blood glucose above 7.8 mmol/l. CMR was performed 3.6 days ± 1.9 days after admission on a 1.5-tesla MR system. The imaging protocol included single-shot steady-state free precession (SSFP) cine sequences for assessing segmental and global left ventricular (LV) function and microvascular obstruction (MVO)/late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) imaging immediately and 10 min after the administration of 0.2 mmol gadodiamide/kg of body weight using an inversion-recovery SSFP (IR-SSFP) sequence. A receiver operating characteristics analysis was used to detect the best cut-off point of microvascular obstruction that predicted myocardial infarction and death during follow-up.
Results
Of 107 patients, 37 (35%) had hyperglycemia on admission. Compared to normoglycemic patients, patients with admission hyperglycemia had a lower LV ejection fraction (38.6 ± 13.7% vs. 47.5 ± 12.2%,
p
< 0.001), greater ESV (88.8 ± 41.8 ml vs. 72.3 ml ± 35.1 ml,
p
= 0.01), greater infarct size (LGE% 21.1 ± 14.9% vs. 9.8 ± 8.7%,
p
< 0.001), and greater MVO (MVO% 9.6 ± 9.9% vs. 2.5 ± 4.3%,
p
< 0.001). Admission hyperglycemia was an independent predictor of the presence and extent of microvascular obstruction. Microvascular obstruction as a percentage of left ventricular mass was the only variable independently related to clinical outcome in a Cox proportional hazard model (Wald 18.78, HR 1.155,
p
< 0.001).
Conclusion
Hyperglycemia at admission in STEMI patients who are successfully treated by PCI is independently associated with the presence and extent of microvascular obstruction on contrast-enhanced CMR. Thus, microvascular obstruction as assessed by CMR may be a mechanism that relates admission hyperglycemia in acute STEMI to worse outcome.
Previous studies showed the reliability of cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (cMRI) in the quantification of aortic valve stenosis in adults. The aim of this retrospective study was to assess the ...ability of cMRI in the quantification of congenital aortic valve stenosis (CAS) in children. Nineteen patients (mean age 14.0 ± 3.2 years, 15 boys and 4 girls) with CAS were imaged by cMRI and transthoracic echocardiography (TTE). cMRI was performed on a 1.5-Tesla MR scanner (Magnetom Avanto; Siemens Healthcare, Erlangen, Germany) using cine steady-state free precession sequences for the assessment of the aortic valve area (AVA) by MR planimetry and left-ventricular function. Phase-contrast measurement was used in cMRI to assess peak flow velocity above the aortic valve. A positive correlation was found between maximum systolic pressure gradient (MPG) as assessed by cMRI and TTE (28.9 ± 21.2 vs. 41.3 ± 22.7 mmHg,
r
= 0.84,
p
= 0.001) with a mean underestimation of 12.4 mmHg by cMRI. Only a weak correlation could be observed between AVA by cMRI and MPG at the aortic valve by TTE (
r
= −0.50,
p
= 0.029) and cMRI (
r
= −0.27,
p
= 0.40). Furthermore, a positive correlation between myocardial mass (cMRI) and MPG (TTE,
r
= 0.57,
p
= 0.01), but not between myocardial mass (cMRI) and AVA (cMRI,
r
= 0.07,
p
= 0.77), was found. The assessment of MPG by cMRI in patients with CAS is feasible with a trend toward underestimatation compared with TTE. Moreover, MPG seems to be a more accurate parameter than AVA regarding the prediction of myocardial hypertrophy.
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