title: Assessment of left atrial volume by contrast enhanced magnetic resonance angiography.
abstract: Left atrial (LA) volume is associated with cardiovascular morbidity, particularly atrial fibrillation. Contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography (CE-MRA) visualizes the LA, but the validity of LA volume measurements using this technique has not been evaluated. We performed CE-MRA and cine magnetic resonance (MR) in 18 consecutive patients referred for CE-MRA prior to atrial fibrillation ablation. The CE-MRA LA volumes were compared to cine MR LA volumes at the maximal LA size and at LA end-diastole using linear regression and limits of agreement analysis. The mean cine MR LA volume was 118 +/- 39 mL at maximal LA size and 91 +/- 38 mL at LA end-diastole. Left atrial volume determined by CE-MRA was 93 +/- 38 mL. Although the CE-MRA LA volume had a strong correlation with the maximal cine MR LA volume (R2 = 0.86, p < 0.001), the 95% limits of agreement were relatively wide (-54 to 3 mL). The cine MR LA end-diastolic and CE-MRA LA volumes were more closely correlated (R2 = 0.98, p < 0.001) with narrow 95% limits of agreement (-8 to 11 mL). The CE-MRA LA volumes correspond most closely to LA end-diastolic cine MR LA volumes and may be a useful measure of LA size.
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Division, Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Hauser
authors.forename: Seth
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: McClennen
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Katsimaglis
authors.forename: Mark E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Josephson
authors.forename: Warren J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Manning
authors.forename: Susan B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Yeon
mesh_terms: D002306:Cardiac Volume / Q000502:physiology*; D003287:Contrast Media / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D003971:Diastole / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D006325:Heart Atria / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography / Q000379:methods*; D019028:Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Cine; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D016277:Ventricular Function, Left / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA