Graham A Wright

Idan Roifman

Kim A Connelly

Labonny Biswas

Rhonda Walcarius

Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance

Springer - Publisher Connector

Comparison of a novel free breathing SSFP sequence with standard breath held SSFP- a pilot study

POSTER PRESENTATION Open Access
Comparison of a novel free breathing SSFP
sequence with standard breath held SSFP- a
pilot study
Idan Roifman1*, Rhonda Walcarius1,2, Labonny Biswas2,1, Kim A Connelly1, Graham A Wright1,2
From 18th Annual SCMR Scientific Sessions
Nice, France. 4-7 February 2015
Background
Despite advances in magnetic resonance imaging hard-
ware and software, the acquisition of optimal cardiac
magnetic resonance (CMR) images may be hampered by
several factors. Most notably, scan length, the require-
ment for multiple breath holds and cardiac gating can
all impact upon image quality. Real time cardiac imaging
holds promise for reducing scan times via rapid acquisi-
tions of images that are not reliant on breath holding or
cardiac gating. Recently, a novel free breathing SSFP
sequence was made available as part of a pre-release
version of the HeartVista Cardiac Package, Version 1.0.0
(HeartVista, Inc.). Our goal was to compare the assess-
ment of LV function between the HeartVista free
breathing SSFP (FB-SSFP) sequence and standard
FIESTA breath held SSFP.
Methods
8 patients with chronic stable coronary artery disease
were scanned on 1.5T GE Signa Excite scanner between
Dec 2013 and June 2014. Each patient had both a tradi-
tional GE FIESTA SSFP sequence as well as the novel
free breathing SSFP sequence. The American Heart
Association/American College of Cardiology 17 segment
model was employed. Each segment was independently
graded by two CMR specialists as 1 (normal), 2 (hypoki-
netic) or 3 (akinetic). Subsequently, agreement between
graded scores was analyzed via both simple and
weighted kappa analysis. Further, simple and weighted
kappa values were also used to assess inter-observer
agreement of the FB-SSFP sequence between the two
CMR specialists.
Results
Overall image quality was graded as good in all 8 cases.
A total of 136 segments were compared using the tradi-
tional FIESTA SSFP sequence with the free breathing
SSFP sequence. Of these, 10 segments in the FB-SSFP
were excluded due to artifact. No segments were
excluded in the FIESTA group. Simple kappa values
were 0.79 (95%CI 0.66-0.93) and weighted kappa values
were 0.87 (95%CI 0.77-0.96) for agreement between the
two sequences. Interobserver agreement for the FB-SSFP
sequence was as follows: Simple Kappa = 0.78 (95%CI
0.61-0.94) and weighted kappa = 0.82 (95%CI 0.68-0.97).
Conclusions
FB-SSFP showed very good agreement with standard
techniques in the assessment of LV function. Further-
more, there was very good interobserver agreement for
FB-SSFP. These preliminary results suggest that
FB-SSFP sequence holds the potential to be utilized
clinically in patients who are unable to breath-hold or
have cardiac arrhythmia. Further work in larger patient
cohorts is required in order to validate these results.
Funding
Funding support for this project was provided from
HeartVista Inc.
Authors’ details
1Medicine, Imaging Research Centre for Cardiac Interventions, Schulich Heart
Centre, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto,
ON, Canada. 2Physical Sciences Platform, Sunnybrook Research Institute,
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada.
1Medicine, Imaging Research Centre for Cardiac Interventions, Schulich Heart
Centre, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto,
ON, Canada
Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
Roifman et al. Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic
Resonance 2015, 17(Suppl 1):P395
http://www.jcmr-online.com/content/17/S1/P395
© 2015 Roifman et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in
any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://
creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
Published: 3 February 2015
doi:10.1186/1532-429X-17-S1-P395
Cite this article as: Roifman et al.: Comparison of a novel free
breathing SSFP sequence with standard breath held SSFP- a pilot
study. Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance 2015 17(Suppl 1):
P395.
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Roifman et al. Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic
Resonance 2015, 17(Suppl 1):P395
http://www.jcmr-online.com/content/17/S1/P395
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Comparison of a novel free breathing SSFP sequence with standard breath held SSFP- a pilot study

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