title: Assessment of aortic valve area in aortic stenosis using cardiac magnetic resonance tomography: comparison with echocardiography.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cardiac magnetic resonance tomography (CMR) is a new imaging technique capable of imaging the aortic valve with high resolution. We assessed the aortic valve area (AVA) in patients with aortic stenosis (AS) using CMR and compared the results to those obtained by transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) and transesophageal echocardiography (TEE).
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-two patients (36% female, 71 +/- 8 years) symptomatic for AS underwent TTE followed by TEE to determine the AVA; the continuity equation was used with TTE and the planimetry technique with TEE. In 26 of these patients, the AVA was additionally obtained by CMR planimetry.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean AVA derived by TTE, TEE and CMR were 0.74 +/- 0.27, 0.87 +/- 25 and 0.97 +/- 0.30 cm(2), respectively. The mean absolute differences in AVA were 0.13 +/- 0.19 cm(2) for TTE vs. TEE, 0.21 +/- 0.25 cm(2) for TTE vs. CMR and 0.05 +/- 0.11 cm(2) for CMR vs. TEE.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is a good agreement between CMR and the echocardiographic determination of the AVA. If multicenter, large-scale studies confirm these observations, CMR could serve as a noninvasive alternative to TTE/TEE for the assessment of AVA in AS.
authors: Department of Cardiology, West German Heart Center, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany. nasser.malyar@uk-essen.de
authors: Nasser M
authors: NM
authors: Malyar
authors: Thomas
authors: T
authors: Schlosser
authors: Jörg
authors: J
authors: Barkhausen
authors: Achim
authors: A
authors: Gutersohn
authors: Thomas
authors: T
authors: Buck
authors: Thomas
authors: T
authors: Bartel
authors: Raimund
authors: R
authors: Erbel
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001021:Aortic Valve / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D001024:Aortic Valve Stenosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D015150:Echocardiography, Doppler; D017548:Echocardiography, Transesophageal; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male