Inter-vendor reproducibility of left and right ventricular cardiovascular magnetic resonance myocardial feature-tracking

<div><p>Aim</p><p>Since cardiovascular magnetic resonance feature-tracking (CMR-FT) has been demonstrated to be of incremental clinical merit we investigated the interchangeability of global left and right ventricular strain parameters between different CMR-FT software solutions.</p><p>Material and methods</p><p>CMR-cine images of 10 patients without significant reduction in LVEF and RVEF and 10 patients with a significantly impaired systolic function were analyzed using two different types of FT-software (TomTec, Germany; QStrain, Netherlands). Global longitudinal strains (LV GLS, RV GLS), global left ventricular circumferential (GCS) and radial strains (GRS) were assessed. Differences in intra- and inter-observer variability within and between software types based on single and up to three repeated and subsequently averaged measurements were evaluated.</p><p>Results</p><p>Inter-vendor agreement was highest for GCS followed by LV GLS. GRS and RV GLS showed lower inter-vendor agreement. Variability was consistently higher in healthy volunteers as compared to the patient group. Intra-vendor reproducibility was excellent for GCS, LV GLS and RV GLS, but lower for GRS. The impact of repeated measurements was most pronounced for GRS and RV GLS on an intra-vendor level.</p><p>Conclusion</p><p>Cardiac pathology has no influence on CMR-FT reproducibility. LV GLS and GCS qualify as the most robust parameters within and between individual software types. Since both parameters can be interchangeably assessed with different software solutions they may enter the clinical arena for optimized diagnostic and prognostic evaluation of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in various pathologies.</p></div

Green Fluorescent Protein NS1 Transfection Induces Endothelial Activation and Platelet Adhesion.

<p>(A) Non-structural protein segment 1 (NS1) transfection of endothelial cells visualized by green fluorescent protein (GFP) causes endothelial activation and enhanced expression of ICAM-1/CD54 and (B) induces endothelial expression of EMMPRIN/CD147 compared to control-GFP transfected cells. (C) Dynamic adhesion assays (flow chamber) showed that adhesion of platelets was enhanced twice as much on NS1 transfected ECs compared to control-GFP. (D) Similar results were found with the number of adherent monocytes. (E) Distinctive images of ECs representative for NS1-GFP, GFP-control, TNF-α/IFN-γ stimulated cells and resting cells 24 h after transfection. *denotes stastical significance (P<0.05). Whiskers represent standard deviation.</p

Additional file 2: of Targeted endomyocardial biopsy guided by real-time cardiovascular magnetic resonance

Real-time CMR images seen by the interventionalist during biopsy of a radiofrequency induced lesion similar to the one depicted in Fig. 2. (PPTX 9082 kb

Green Fluorescent Protein to Visualize Transfection of an Endothelial-like Cell Line (ECV304) by NS1-Parvovirus B19 (PVB19).

<p>(A) Sketch of the parvovirus B19 (PVB19) plasmid with its three distinct proteins, non-structural protein segment 1 (NS1) and two structural viral capsid proteins VP1 and VP2, as well as the binding of green fluorescent protein (GFP) color reporter gene to NS1. (B) The transfection of endothelial cells (ECs) was verified simultaneously through flow cytometry, immunofluorescence microscopy and real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis after 24, 48, 72, and 96 h. The transfection rate (%) at the subsequent timepoints decreased in NS1-GFP transfected EC faster than in the GFP-control.</p

Inter-vendor agreement and intra-vendor reproducibility at intra- and inter-observer levels for global longitudinal, global circumferential and global radial strain based on one measurement (R1).

<p>Inter-vendor agreement and intra-vendor reproducibility at intra- and inter-observer levels for global longitudinal, global circumferential and global radial strain based on one measurement (R1).</p

Example of LV circumferential strain assessments at the basal level and corresponding strain curves.

<p>Example of LV circumferential strain assessments at the basal level with TomTec (<i>Panel a</i>) and QStrain (<i>Panel b</i>). Manually contoured epicardial and endocardial borders and respective strain curves (<i>Panel c</i>) are being displayed for both types of software.</p

Inter-vendor agreement on an intra- and inter-observer level for global longitudinal, global circumferential andglobal radial strain for the complete study cohort, normal subjects and patients with impaired cardiac function* based on three averaged measurements (R3).

<p>Inter-vendor agreement on an intra- and inter-observer level for global longitudinal, global circumferential andglobal radial strain for the complete study cohort, normal subjects and patients with impaired cardiac function* based on three averaged measurements (R3).</p

Inter-vendor agreement and intra-vendor reproducibility at intra- and inter-observer levels for global longitudinal, global circumferential and global radial strain based on two averaged measurements (R2).

<p>Inter-vendor agreement and intra-vendor reproducibility at intra- and inter-observer levels for global longitudinal, global circumferential and global radial strain based on two averaged measurements (R2).</p

Patient demographics.

<p>Patient demographics.</p

Relationship between strain values of the experienced and the inexperienced observer.

<p>Results show the strain values for (Ecc_endo) of the experienced and the inexperienced observer according to the visual reference standard as defined by the experienced observers reading.</p