Automated evaluation of diastolic function from phase-contrast MRI in healthy subjects and patients

Early detection of diastolic dysfunction is crucial for patients with incipient heart failure. Our goal was to develop a robust process to automatically estimate diastolic parameters from phase-contrast cardiovascular magnetic resonance (PC-CMR) data and to test their ability to characterize left ventricular (LV) dysfunction. We studied 53 subjects (35 controls and 18 patients with a severe aortic valve stenosis) who had PC-CMR and Doppler echocardiography on the same day. PC-CMR data were analyzed using custom software to extract diastolic parameters. Our technique was reproducible, as reflected by a small variability (<4.25 ± 5.89 %). The PC-CMR diastolic parameters significantly (p<0.0002) varied in patients as opposed to controls. Moreover, PC-CMR diastolic parameters were consistent with echocardiographic values (r>0.71) and were able to accurately separate patients from controls (accuracy>0.85). Of note, a superiority in terms of correlation with echocardiography and accuracy to detect LV abnormalities were found for flow-rate parameters. A fast and reproducible technique was proposed and was successfully used to extract consistent PC-CMR diastolic parameters. This technique provides a valuable addition to established CMR tools in evaluation of patients with diastolic dysfunction.