Automatic left ventricle volume calculation with explainability through a deep learning weak-supervision methodology

[EN] Background and objective: Magnetic resonance imaging is the most reliable imaging technique to assess the heart. More specifically there is great importance in the analysis of the left ventricle, as the main pathologies directly affect this region. In order to characterize the left ventricle, it is necessary to extract its volume. In this work we present a neural network architecture that is capable of directly estimating the left ventricle volume in short axis cine Magnetic Resonance Imaging in the end-diastolic frame and provide a segmentation of the region which is the basis of the volume calculation, thus offering explain-ability to the estimated value. Methods: The network was designed to directly target the volumes to estimate, not requiring any labeled segmentation on the images. The network was based on a 3D U-net with extra layers defined in a scan-ning module that learned features like the circularity of the objects and the volumes to estimate in a weakly-supervised manner. The only targets defined were the left ventricle volumes and the circularity of the object detected through the estimation of the pi value derived from its shape. We had access to 397 cases corresponding to 397 different subjects. We randomly selected 98 cases to use as test set. Results: The results show a good match between the real and estimated volumes in the test set, with a mean relative error of 8% and a mean absolute error of 9.12 ml with a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.95. The derived segmentations obtained by the network achieved Dice coefficients with a mean value of 0.79. Conclusions: The proposed method is capable of obtaining the left ventricle volume biomarker in the end-diastole and offer an explanation of how it obtains the result in the form of a segmentation mask without the need of segmentation labels to train the algorithm, making it a potentially more trustworthy method for clinicians and a way to train neural networks more easily when segmentation labels are not readily available.The authors acknowledge financial support from the Consel-leria d'Educacio, Investigacio, Cultura i Esport, Generalitat Valenciana (grants AEST/2019/037 and AEST/2020/029) , from the Agencia Valenciana de la Innovacion, Generalitat Valenciana (ref. INNCAD00/19/085) , and from the Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnologico Industrial (Programa Eurostars2, actuacion Interempresas Internacional) , Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades (ref. CIIP-20192020) .Pérez-Pelegrí, M.; Monmeneu, JV.; López-Lereu, MP.; Pérez-Pelegrí, L.; Maceira, AM.; Bodi, V.; Moratal, D. (2021). Automatic left ventricle volume calculation with explainability through a deep learning weak-supervision methodology. Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine. 208:1-8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmpb.2021.106275S1820

PSPU-Net for Automatic Short Axis Cine MRI Segmentation of Left and Right Ventricles

[EN] Characterization of the heart anatomy and function is mostly done with magnetic resonance image cine series. To achieve a correct characterization, the volume of the right and left ventricle need to be segmented, which is a timeconsuming task. We propose a new convolutional neural network architecture that combines U-net with PSP modules (PSPU-net) for the segmentation of left and right ventricle cavities and left ventricle myocardium in the diastolic frame of short-axis cine MRI images and compare its results against a classic 3D U-net architecture. We used a dataset containing 399 cases in total. The results showed higher quality results in both segmentation and final volume estimation for a test set of 99 cases in the case of the PSPU-net, with global dice metrics of 0.910 and median absolute relative errors in volume estimations of 0.026 and 0.039 for the left ventricle cavity and myocardium and 0.051 for the right ventricles cavity.DM acknowledges financial support from the Conselleria d'Educacio, Investigacio, Cultura i Esport, Generalitat Valenciana (grants AEST/2019/037 and AEST/2020/029), from the Agencia Valenciana de la Innovacion, Generalitat Valenciana (ref. INNCAD00/19/085), and from the Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnologico Industrial (Programa Eurostars-2, actuacion Interempresas Internacional), Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades (ref. CIIP20192020). We are grateful to Andres Larroza for his valuable technical assistance in the project.Pérez-Pelegrí, M.; Monmeneu, JV.; López-Lereu, MP.; Ruiz-España, S.; Del-Canto, I.; Bodi, V.; Moratal, D. (2020). PSPU-Net for Automatic Short Axis Cine MRI Segmentation of Left and Right Ventricles. IEEE Computer Society. 1048-1053. https://doi.org/10.1109/BIBE50027.2020.00177S1048105

MRI Investigation of the Differential Impact of Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction After Myocardial Infarction in Elderly vs. Nonelderly Patients to Predict Readmission for Heart Failure

Acute heart failure; Acute myocardial infarction; ElderlyInsuficiència cardíaca aguda; Infart agut de miocardi; Gent granInsuficiencia cardíaca aguda; Infarto agudo de miocardio; AncianoBackground Patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), especially elderly individuals, have an increased risk of readmission for acute heart failure (AHF). Purpose To study the impact of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) by MRI to predict AHF in elderly (>70 years) and nonelderly patients after STEMI. Study Type Prospective. Population Multicenter registry of 759 reperfused STEMI patients (23.3% elderly). Field Strength/Sequence 1.5-T. Balanced steady-state free precession (cine imaging) and segmented inversion recovery steady-state free precession (late gadolinium enhancement) sequences. Assessment One-week MRI-derived LVEF (%) was quantified. Sequential MRI data were recorded in 579 patients. Patients were categorized according to their MRI-derived LVEF as preserved (p-LVEF, ≥50%), mildly reduced (mr-LVEF, 41%–49%), or reduced (r-LVEF, ≤40%). Median follow-up was 5 [2.33–7.54] years. Statistical Tests Univariable (Student's t, Mann–Whitney U, chi-square, and Fisher's exact tests) and multivariable (Cox proportional hazard regression) comparisons and continuous-time multistate Markov model to analyze transitions between LVEF categories and to AHF. Hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were computed. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results Over the follow-up period, 79 (10.4%) patients presented AHF. MRI-LVEF was the most robust predictor in nonelderly (HR 0.94 [0.91–0.98]) and elderly patients (HR 0.94 [0.91–0.97]). Elderly patients had an increased AHF risk across the LVEF spectrum. An excess of risk (compared to p-LVEF) was noted in patients with r-LVEF both in nonelderly (HR 11.25 [5.67–22.32]) and elderly patients (HR 7.55 [3.29–17.34]). However, the mr-LVEF category was associated with increased AHF risk only in elderly patients (HR 3.66 [1.54–8.68]). Less transitions to higher LVEF states (n = 19, 30.2% vs. n = 98, 53%) and more transitions to AHF state (n = 34, 53.9% vs. n = 45, 24.3%) were observed in elderly than nonelderly patients. Data Conclusion MRI-derived p-LVEF confers a favorable prognosis and r-LVEF identifies individuals at the highest risk of AHF in both elderly and nonelderly patients. Nevertheless, an excess of risk was also found in the mr-LVEF category in the elderly group. Evidence Level 2. Technical Efficacy Stage 2.Grant sponsor: This work was supported by “Instituto de Salud Carlos III” and “Fondos Europeos de Desarrollo Regional FEDER” (grant numbers PI20/00637, PI15/00531, and CIBERCV16/11/00486, CIBERCV16/11/00420, CIBERCV16/11/00479, and CM21/00175 to V.M.-G.), Fundació La Marató TV3 (grant 20153030-31-32), La Caixa Banking Foundation (HR17-00527) and by Conselleria de Educación – Generalitat Valenciana (PROMETEO/2021/008). J.G. acknowledges financial support from the “Agencia Estatal de Investigación” (grant FJC2020-043981-I/AEI/10.13039/501100011033)

A Novel Clinical and Stress Cardiac Magnetic Resonance (C-CMR-10) Score to Predict Long-Term All-Cause Mortality in Patients with Known or Suspected Chronic Coronary Syndrome

[EN] Vasodilator stress cardiac magnetic resonance (stressCMR) has shown robust diagnostic and prognostic value in patients with known or suspected chronic coronary syndrome (CCS). However, it is unknown whether integration of stressCMR with clinical variables in a simple clinical-imaging score can straightforwardly predict all-cause mortality in this population. We included 6187 patients in a large registry that underwent stressCMR for known or suspected CCS. Several clinical and stressCMR variables were collected, such as left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and ischemic burden (number of segments with stress-induced perfusion defects (PD)). During a median follow-up of 5.56 years, we registered 682 (11%) all-cause deaths. The only independent predictors of all-cause mortality in multivariable analysis were age, male sex, diabetes mellitus (DM), LVEF and ischemic burden. Based on the weight of the chi-square increase at each step of the multivariable analysis, we created a simple clinical-stressCMR (C-CMR-10) score that included these variables (age >= 65 years = 3 points, LVEF 5 segments = 1 point). This 0 to 10 points C-CMR-10 score showed good performance to predict all-cause annualized mortality rate ranging from 0.29%/year (score = 0) to >4.6%/year (score >= 7). The goodness of the model and of the C-CMR-10 score was separately confirmed in 2 internal cohorts (n> 3000 each). We conclude that a novel and simple clinical-stressCMR score, which includes clinical and stressCMR variables, can provide robust prediction of the risk of long-term all-cause mortality in a population of patients with known or suspected CCS.This work was supported by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III and co-funded by Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) (grant numbers PI17/01836 and CIBERCV16/11/00486).Marcos-Garces, V.; Gavara-Doñate, J.; Monmeneu-Menadas, JV.; Lopez-Lereu, MP.; Pérez, N.; Rios-Navarro, C.; De Dios, E.... (2020). A Novel Clinical and Stress Cardiac Magnetic Resonance (C-CMR-10) Score to Predict Long-Term All-Cause Mortality in Patients with Known or Suspected Chronic Coronary Syndrome. Journal of Clinical Medicine. 9(6):1-13. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm9061957S11396Hendel, R. C., Friedrich, M. G., Schulz-Menger, J., Zemmrich, C., Bengel, F., Berman, D. S., … Nagel, E. (2016). CMR First-Pass Perfusion for Suspected Inducible Myocardial Ischemia. JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging, 9(11), 1338-1348. doi:10.1016/j.jcmg.2016.09.010Chang, S.-A., & Kim, R. J. (2016). The Use of Cardiac Magnetic Resonance in Patients with Suspected Coronary Artery Disease: A Clinical Practice Perspective. Journal of Cardiovascular Ultrasound, 24(2), 96. doi:10.4250/jcu.2016.24.2.96Kiaos, A., Tziatzios, I., Hadjimiltiades, S., Karvounis, C., & Karamitsos, T. D. (2018). Diagnostic performance of stress perfusion cardiac magnetic resonance for the detection of coronary artery disease. International Journal of Cardiology, 252, 229-233. doi:10.1016/j.ijcard.2017.11.066Li, M., Zhou, T., Yang, L., Peng, Z., Ding, J., & Sun, G. (2014). Diagnostic Accuracy of Myocardial Magnetic Resonance Perfusion to Diagnose Ischemic Stenosis With Fractional Flow Reserve as Reference. JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging, 7(11), 1098-1105. doi:10.1016/j.jcmg.2014.07.011Siontis, G. C., Mavridis, D., Greenwood, J. P., Coles, B., Nikolakopoulou, A., Jüni, P., … Windecker, S. (2018). Outcomes of non-invasive diagnostic modalities for the detection of coronary artery disease: network meta-analysis of diagnostic randomised controlled trials. BMJ, k504. doi:10.1136/bmj.k504Nagel, E., Greenwood, J. P., McCann, G. P., Bettencourt, N., Shah, A. M., Hussain, S. T., … Berry, C. (2019). Magnetic Resonance Perfusion or Fractional Flow Reserve in Coronary Disease. New England Journal of Medicine, 380(25), 2418-2428. doi:10.1056/nejmoa1716734Siontis, G. C., Branca, M., Serruys, P., Silber, S., Räber, L., Pilgrim, T., … Hunziker, L. (2019). Impact of left ventricular function on clinical outcomes among patients with coronary artery disease. European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, 26(12), 1273-1284. doi:10.1177/2047487319841939Buckert, D., Kelle, S., Buss, S., Korosoglou, G., Gebker, R., Birkemeyer, R., … Bernhardt, P. (2016). Left ventricular ejection fraction and presence of myocardial necrosis assessed by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging correctly risk stratify patients with stable coronary artery disease: a multi-center all-comers trial. Clinical Research in Cardiology, 106(3), 219-229. doi:10.1007/s00392-016-1042-5Catalano, O., Moro, G., Perotti, M., Frascaroli, M., Ceresa, M., Antonaci, S., … Priori, S. G. (2012). Late gadolinium enhancement by cardiovascular magnetic resonance is complementary to left ventricle ejection fraction in predicting prognosis of patients with stable coronary artery disease. Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance, 14(1). doi:10.1186/1532-429x-14-29Lipinski, M. J., McVey, C. M., Berger, J. S., Kramer, C. M., & Salerno, M. (2013). Prognostic Value of Stress Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Patients With Known or Suspected Coronary Artery Disease. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 62(9), 826-838. doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2013.03.080Gargiulo, P., Dellegrottaglie, S., Bruzzese, D., Savarese, G., Scala, O., Ruggiero, D., … Filardi, P. P. (2013). The Prognostic Value of Normal Stress Cardiac Magnetic Resonance in Patients With Known or Suspected Coronary Artery Disease. Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging, 6(4), 574-582. doi:10.1161/circimaging.113.000035Kwong, R. Y., Ge, Y., Steel, K., Bingham, S., Abdullah, S., Fujikura, K., … Simonetti, O. P. (2019). Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Stress Perfusion Imaging for Evaluation of Patients With Chest Pain. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 74(14), 1741-1755. doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2019.07.074Marcos-Garces, V., Gavara, J., Monmeneu, J. V., Lopez-Lereu, M. P., Bosch, M. J., Merlos, P., … Bodi, V. (2020). Vasodilator Stress CMR and All-Cause Mortality in Stable Ischemic Heart Disease. JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging, 13(8), 1674-1686. doi:10.1016/j.jcmg.2020.02.027Heitner, J. F., Kim, R. J., Kim, H. W., Klem, I., Shah, D. J., Debs, D., … Judd, R. M. (2019). Prognostic Value of Vasodilator Stress Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging. JAMA Cardiology, 4(3), 256. doi:10.1001/jamacardio.2019.0035Bodi, V., Sanchis, J., Lopez-Lereu, M. P., Nunez, J., Mainar, L., Monmeneu, J. V., … Llacer, A. (2007). Prognostic Value of Dipyridamole Stress Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Patients With Known or Suspected Coronary Artery Disease. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 50(12), 1174-1179. doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2007.06.016Bodi, V., Husser, O., Sanchis, J., Núñez, J., Monmeneu, J. V., López-Lereu, M. P., … Llacer, Á. (2012). Prognostic Implications of Dipyridamole Cardiac MR Imaging: A Prospective Multicenter Registry. Radiology, 262(1), 91-100. doi:10.1148/radiol.11110134Ponikowski, P., Voors, A. A., Anker, S. D., Bueno, H., Cleland, J. G. F., Coats, A. J. S., … van der Meer, P. (2016). 2016 ESC Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic heart failure. European Heart Journal, 37(27), 2129-2200. doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehw128Marschner, I. C., Colquhoun, D., Simes, R. J., Glasziou, P., Harris, P., Singh, B. B., … Tonkin, A. (2001). Long-term risk stratification for survivors of acute coronary syndromes. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 38(1), 56-63. doi:10.1016/s0735-1097(01)01360-2Knuuti, J., Wijns, W., Saraste, A., Capodanno, D., Barbato, E., Funck-Brentano, C., … Cuisset, T. (2019). 2019 ESC Guidelines for the diagnosis and management of chronic coronary syndromes. European Heart Journal, 41(3), 407-477. doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehz425Klem, I., Shah, D. J., White, R. D., Pennell, D. J., van Rossum, A. C., Regenfus, M., … Kim, R. J. (2011). Prognostic Value of Routine Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Assessment of Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction and Myocardial Damage. Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging, 4(6), 610-619. doi:10.1161/circimaging.111.964965Grothues, F., Smith, G. C., Moon, J. C. ., Bellenger, N. G., Collins, P., Klein, H. U., & Pennell, D. J. (2002). Comparison of interstudy reproducibility of cardiovascular magnetic resonance with two-dimensional echocardiography in normal subjects and in patients with heart failure or left ventricular hypertrophy. The American Journal of Cardiology, 90(1), 29-34. doi:10.1016/s0002-9149(02)02381-0Timmis, A., Raharja, A., Archbold, R. A., & Mathur, A. (2018). Validity of inducible ischaemia as a surrogate for adverse outcomes in stable coronary artery disease. Heart, 104(21), 1733-1738. doi:10.1136/heartjnl-2018-313230Pontone, G., Andreini, D., Bertella, E., Loguercio, M., Guglielmo, M., Baggiano, A., … Masci, P. G. (2015). Prognostic value of dipyridamole stress cardiac magnetic resonance in patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease: a mid-term follow-up study. European Radiology, 26(7), 2155-2165. doi:10.1007/s00330-015-4064-xHeydari, B., Juan, Y.-H., Liu, H., Abbasi, S., Shah, R., Blankstein, R., … Kwong, R. Y. (2016). Stress Perfusion Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging Effectively Risk Stratifies Diabetic Patients With Suspected Myocardial Ischemia. Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging, 9(4). doi:10.1161/circimaging.115.004136Vincenti, G., Masci, P. G., Monney, P., Rutz, T., Hugelshofer, S., Gaxherri, M., … Schwitter, J. (2017). Stress Perfusion CMR in Patients With Known and Suspected CAD. JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging, 10(5), 526-537. doi:10.1016/j.jcmg.2017.02.006Buckert, D., Cieslik, M., Tibi, R., Radermacher, M., Rottbauer, W., & Bernhardt, P. (2017). Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging derived quantification of myocardial ischemia and scar improves risk stratification and patient management in stable coronary artery disease. Cardiology Journal, 24(3), 293-304. doi:10.5603/cj.a2017.0036Zemrak, F., & Petersen, S. E. (2011). Late Gadolinium Enhancement CMR Predicts Adverse Cardiovascular Outcomes and Mortality in Patients With Coronary Artery Disease: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases, 54(3), 215-229. doi:10.1016/j.pcad.2011.07.003El Aidi, H., Adams, A., Moons, K. G. M., Den Ruijter, H. M., Mali, W. P. T. M., Doevendans, P. A., … Leiner, T. (2014). Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging Findings and the Risk of Cardiovascular Events in Patients With Recent Myocardial Infarction or Suspected or Known Coronary Artery Disease. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 63(11), 1031-1045. doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2013.11.048Fox, K. A. A., Metra, M., Morais, J., & Atar, D. (2019). The myth of ‘stable’ coronary artery disease. Nature Reviews Cardiology, 17(1), 9-21. doi:10.1038/s41569-019-0233-ySchiele, F., Ecarnot, F., & Chopard, R. (2017). Coronary artery disease: Risk stratification and patient selection for more aggressive secondary prevention. 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Short-term changes in left and right systolic function following ferric carboxymaltose : a substudy of the Myocardial-IRON trial

Funding: This work was supported in part by an unrestricted grant from Vifor Pharma and Proyectos de Investigación de la Sección de Insuficiencia Cardiaca 2017 from Sociedad Española de Cardiología.The mechanisms underlying the beneficial effect of ferric carboxymaltose (FCM) in patients with heart failure (HF) and iron deficiency (ID) have not been completely characterized. The Myocardial-IRON trial was a double-blind, randomized trial that evaluated myocardial iron repletion following FCM vs. placebo in 53 patients with HF and ID. In this post hoc analysis, we evaluated whether treatment with FCM was associated with cardiac magnetic resonance changes in left and right ventricular function (LVEF and RVEF, respectively) at different points of systolic dysfunction. We included patients from the Myocardial-IRON trial with left and right ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD and RVSD, respectively) at enrolment. Linear mixed regression models were used to evaluate changes at 7 and 30 days on LVEF and RVEF at cardiac magnetic resonance. At enrolment, 27 (50.9%) and 38 (71.7%) patients had LVEF < 40% (LVSD) or <45% (LVSD), respectively, and 10 (18.9%) and 17 (32.1%) patients had RVEF < 45% (RVSD) or <51% in women and <52% in men (RVSD, respectively. Treatment with FCM was associated with a significant improvement in LVEF at 30 days (LVSD: Δ2.3%, P < 0.001; LVSD: Δ4.1, P = 0.014). FCM was also associated with a significant and early improvement in RVEF at 7 days (RVSD: Δ6.9%, P = 0.003; RVSD: Δ3.2%, P = 0.003) that persisted at 30 days (RVSD: Δ8.1%, P < 0.001; RVSD: Δ4.7%, P < 0.001). In patients with HF and systolic dysfunction with ID, FCM was associated with short-term improvement in LVEF and, especially, in RVEF

Risk score for early risk prediction by cardiac magnetic resonance after acute myocardial infarction

[EN] Background: Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) performed early after ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) can improve major adverse cardiac event (MACE) risk prediction. We aimed to create a simple clinical-CMR risk score for early MACE risk stratification in STEMI patients. Methods: We performed a multicenter prospective registry of reperfused STEMI patients (n = 1118) in whom early (1-week) CMR-derived left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), infarct size and microvascular obstruction (MVO) were quantified. MACE was defined as a combined clinical endpoint of cardiovascular (CV) death, nonfatal myocardial infarction (NF-MI) or re-admission for acute decompensated heart failure (HF). Results: During a median follow-up of 5.52 [2.63-7.44] years, 216 first MACE (58 CV deaths, 71 NF-MI and 87 HF) were registered. Mean age was 59.3 +/- 12.3 years and most patients (82.8%) were male. Based on the four variables independently associated with MACE, we computed an 8-point risk score: time to reperfusion >4.15 h (1 point), GRACE risk score > 155 (3 points), CMR-LVEF 1.5 segments (1 point). This score permitted MACE risk stratification: MACE per 100 person-years was 1.96 in the low-risk category (0-2 points), 5.44 in the intermediate-risk category (3-5 points), and 19.7 in the high-risk category (6-8 points): p 4.15 h and GRACE risk score > 155) and CMR (LVEF 1.5 segments) variables allows for simple and straightforward MACE risk stratification early after STEMI. External validation should confirm the applicability of the risk score.This work was supported by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III and cofunded by Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) (grants PI20/00637 and CIBERCV16/11/00486), "Marató TV3" [grant number 20153030-31-32], the Catalonian Society of Cardiology 2015, La Caixa Foundation [HR17-00527], and by Sociedad Española de Cardiología (grant SEC/FECINV-CLI 21/024). D.M. acknowledges financial support from the Conselleria d'Educació, Investigació, Cultura i Esport, Generalitat Valenciana (grants AEST/ 2019/037 and AEST/2020/029). J. G. acknowledges financial support from the Agencia Estatal de Investigación (grant FJC2020-043981-I / AEI/10.13039/501100011033).Marcos-Garcés, V.; Perez, N.; Gavara-Doñate, J.; Lopez-Lereu, MP.; Monmeneu, JV.; Rios-Navarro, C.; De Dios, E.... (2022). Risk score for early risk prediction by cardiac magnetic resonance after acute myocardial infarction. International Journal of Cardiology. 349:150-154. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcard.2021.11.05015015434

Cardiac magnetic resonance outperforms echocardiography to predict subsequent implantable cardioverter defibrillator therapies in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction patients

Altres ajuts: Conselleria de Educación-Generalitat Valenciana (PROMETEO/2021/008); Sociedad Española de Cardiología (Grant SEC/FEC-INVCLI 21/024)Implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICD) are effective as a primary prevention measure of ventricular tachyarrhythmias in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and depressed left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). The implications of using cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) instead of echocardiography (Echo) to assess LVEF prior to the indication of ICD in this setting are unknown. We evaluated 52 STEMI patients (56.6 ± 11 years, 88.5% male) treated with ICD in primary prevention who underwent echocardiography and CMR prior to ICD implantation. ICD implantation was indicated based on the presence of heart failure and depressed LVEF (≤ 35%) by echocardiography, CMR, or both. Prediction of ICD therapies (ICD-T) during follow-up by echocardiography and CMR before ICD implantation was assessed. Compared to echocardiography, LVEF was lower by cardiac CMR (30.2 ± 9% vs. 37.4 ± 7.6%, p < 0.001). LVEF ≤ 35% was detected in 24 patients (46.2%) by Echo and in 42 (80.7%) by CMR. During a mean follow-up of 6.1 ± 4.2 years, 10 patients received appropriate ICD-T (3.16 ICD-T per 100 person-years): 5 direct shocks to treat very fast ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation, 3 effective antitachycardia pacing (ATP) for treatment of ventricular tachycardia, and 2 ineffective ATP followed by shock to treat ventricular tachycardia. Echo-LVEF ≤ 35% correctly predicted ICD-T in 4/10 (40%) patients and CMR-LVEF ≤ 35% in 10/10 (100%) patients. CMR-LVEF improved on Echo-LVEF for predicting ICD-T (area under the curve: 0.76 vs. 0.48, p = 0.04). In STEMI patients treated with ICD, assessment of LVEF by CMR outperforms Echo-LVEF to predict the subsequent use of appropriate ICD therapies

Magnetic resonance microscopy and correlative histopathology of the infarcted heart

Altres ajuts:The present study was supported by the EU Joint Programming Initiative 'A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life' (JPI HDHL INTIMIC-085), Generalitat Valenciana (GV/2018/116), INCLIVA and Universitat de Valencia (program VLC-BIOCLINIC 20-nanomIRM-2016A).Delayed enhancement cardiovascular magnetic resonance (MR) is the gold-standard for non-invasive assessment after myocardial infarction (MI). MR microscopy (MRM) provides a level of detail comparable to the macro objective of light microscopy. We used MRM and correlative histopathology to identify infarct and remote tissue in contrast agent-free multi-sequence MRM in swine MI hearts. One control group (n = 3 swine) and two experimental MI groups were formed: 90 min of ischemia followed by 1 week (acute MI = 6 swine) or 1 month (chronic MI = 5 swine) reperfusion. Representative samples of each heart were analysed by contrast agent-free multi-sequence (T1-weighting, T2-weighting, T2*-weighting, T2-mapping, and T2*-mapping). MRM was performed in a 14-Tesla vertical axis imager (Bruker-AVANCE 600 system). Images from MRM and the corresponding histopathological stained samples revealed differences in signal intensities between infarct and remote areas in both MI groups (p-value < 0.001). The multivariable models allowed us to precisely classify regions of interest (acute MI: specificity 92% and sensitivity 80%; chronic MI: specificity 100% and sensitivity 98%). Probabilistic maps based on MRM images clearly delineated the infarcted regions. As a proof of concept, these results illustrate the potential of MRM with correlative histopathology as a platform for exploring novel contrast agent-free MR biomarkers after MI

Comparative Analysis of Tagging and Feature-Tracking Cardiac MRI Techniques for the Evaluation of Cardiac Deformation

[EN] Currently, there is a high prevalence of cardiovascular diseases, being the leading cause of mortality worldwide. Thus, a rapid and effective evaluation of the heart is increasingly relevant to diagnose the patient early and achieve appropriate treatment. For this reason, this study aims to compare myocardial deformation parameters such as circumferential strain (segmental, base, mid, apical and global) and global torsion values by the CMR tissue tagging reference technique in SPAMM cine images and the promising feature-tracking technique in b-SSFP cine images, in 31 healthy subjects and 35 patients diagnosed with infarct. The results obtained showed that there is a high agreement in the inter-technique and inter-observer reproducibility for all myocardial parameters evaluated. Therefore, it can be determined the CMR featuretracking technique is highly reproducible for circumferential strain and torsion parameters and could currently be a reliable clinical alternative to assess myocardial function.DM acknowledges financial support from the Conselleria d'Educacio, Investigacio, Cultura i Esport, Generalitat Valenciana (grants AEST/2019/037 and AEST/2020/029), from the Agencia Valenciana de la Innovacion, Generalitat Valenciana (ref. INNCAD00/19/085), and from the Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnologico Industrial (Programa Eurostars-2, Interempresas Internacional), Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades (ref. CIIP-20192020).Tejero-Cervera, P.; Del-Canto, I.; López-Lereu, MP.; Monmeneu, JV.; Ruiz-España, S.; Santabárbara, JM.; Maceira, A.... (2020). Comparative Analysis of Tagging and Feature-Tracking Cardiac MRI Techniques for the Evaluation of Cardiac Deformation. IEEE Computer Society. 1054-1059. https://doi.org/10.1109/BIBE50027.2020.00178S1054105

Short-Term Changes in Left and Right Ventricular Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Feature Tracking Strain Following Ferric Carboxymaltose in Patients With Heart Failure: A Substudy of the Myocardial-IRON Trial

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Del Canto I, Santas E, Cardells I, Miñana G, Palau P, Llàcer P, Fácila L, López-Vilella R, Almenar L, Bodí V, López-Lereu MP, Monmeneu JV, Sanchis J, Moratal D, Maceira AM, de la Espriella R, Chorro FJ, Bayés-Genís A, Núñez J; Myocardial¿IRON Investigators. Short-Term Changes in Left and Right Ventricular Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Feature Tracking Strain Following Ferric Carboxymaltose in Patients With Heart Failure: A Substudy of the Myocardial-IRON Trial. J Am Heart Assoc. 2022 Apr 5;11(7):e022214. doi: 10.1161/JAHA.121.022214, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1161/jaha.121.022214. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.[EN] BACKGROUND: The mechanisms explaining the clinical benefits of ferric carboximaltose (FCM) in patients with heart failure, reduced or intermediate left ventricular ejection fraction, and iron deficiency remain not fully clarified. The Myocardial-IRON trial showed short-term cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) changes suggesting myocardial iron repletion following administration of FCM but failed to find a significant increase in left ventricular ejection fraction in the whole sample. Conversely, the strain assessment could evaluate more specifically subtle changes in contractility. In this subanalysis, we aimed to evaluate the effect of FCM on the short-term left and right ventricular CMR feature tracking derived strain. METHODS AND RESULTS: This is a post hoc subanalysis of the double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial that enrolled 53 ambulatory patients with heart failure and left ventricular ejection fraction <50%, and iron deficiency [Myocardial-IRON trial (NCT03398681)]. Three-dimensional left and 2-dimensional right ventricular CMR tracking strain (longitudinal, circumferential, and radial) changes were evaluated before, 7 and 30 days after randomization using linear mixed-effect analysis. The median (interquartile range) age of the sample was 73 years (65-78), and 40 (75.5%) were men. At baseline, there were no significant differences in CMR feature tracking strain parameters across both treatment arms. At 7 days, the only global 3-dimensional left ventricular circumferential strain was significantly higher in the FCM treatment-arm (difference: -1.6%, P=0.001). At 30 days, and compared with placebo, global 3-dimensional left ventricular strain parameters significantly improved in those allocated to FCM treatment-arm [longitudinal (difference: -2.3%, P<0.001), circumferential (difference: -2.5%, P<0.001), and radial (difference: 4.2%, P=0.002)]. Likewise, significant improvements in global right ventricular strain parameters were found in the active arm at 30 days (longitudinal [difference: -3.3%, P=0.010], circumferential [difference: -4.5%, P<0.001], and radial [difference: 4.5%, P=0.027]). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with stable heart failure, left ventricular ejection fraction <50%, and iron deficiency, treatment with FCM was associated with short-term improvements in left and right ventricular function assessed by CMR feature tracking derived strain parameters.This work was supported in part by an unrestricted grant from Vifor Pharma, CIBER Cardiovascular [grant numbers 16/11/00420 and 16/11/00403], Unidad de Investigacion Clinica y Ensayos Clinicos INCLIVA Health Research Institute, Spanish Clinical Research Network (SCReN; PT13/0002/0031 and PT17/0017/0003), cofounded by Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional-Instituto de Salud Carlos III, and Proyectos de Investigacion de la Seccion de Insuficiencia Cardiaca 2017 from Sociedad Espanola de Cardiologia.Del Canto Serrano, I.; Santas, E.; Cardells, I.; Miñana, G.; Palau, P.; Llàcer, P.; Fácila, L.... (2022). Short-Term Changes in Left and Right Ventricular Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Feature Tracking Strain Following Ferric Carboxymaltose in Patients With Heart Failure: A Substudy of the Myocardial-IRON Trial. Journal of the American Heart Association. 11(7):1-19. https://doi.org/10.1161/JAHA.121.02221411911