Assessment of global right ventricular function on 64-MDCT compared with MRI.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to compare ECG-gated 64-MDCT with MRI for the assessment of global right ventricular (RV) function from coronary CT angiography data.


METHODS
Thirty-eight patients (25 men, 13 women; mean age +/- SD, 55.0 +/- 8.8 years) with suspected coronary artery disease underwent contrast-enhanced 64-MDCT (64 x 0.6 mm, 120 kV, 770 mAs(eff)) and 1.5-T MRI (balanced fast-field echo; TR/TE, 3.3/1.6; flip angle, 60 degrees ; 50 phases). Double oblique short-axis MDCT and MR images were used for further analysis. End-diastolic volume (EDV), end-systolic volume (ESV), stroke volume (SV), and ejection fraction (EF) were computed from manually drawn endocardial contours of the right ventricle. For statistical analysis, repeated-measures analysis of variance and Pearson's correlation coefficients were calculated. Bland-Altman plots were computed.


RESULTS
In general, RV volumes calculated from 64-MDCT agreed well with those calculated from MRI. The mean EF (+/- SD) calculated from MDCT and MRI was 51.0% +/- 7.8% and 51.4% +/- 7.3%, respectively. An excellent correlation was observed for EDV (r = 0.99), ESV (r = 0.98), SV (r = 0.98), and EF (r = 0.97). Bland-Altman plots showed no systematic variation between MDCT and MRI data. No statistically significant differences (p < or = 0.05) between the techniques were found.


CONCLUSIONS
Although contrast injection is optimized for visualization of the coronary arteries, retrospectively ECG-gated 64-MDCT permits reliable assessment of global RV function.
Plumhans
Cédric
C
Department of Diagnostic Radiology, RWTH Aachen University Hospital, D 52057 Aachen, Germany. plumhans@rad.rwth-aachen.de
Mühlenbruch
Georg
G
Rapaee
Annuar
A
Sim
Kui-Hian
KH
Seyfarth
Tobias
T
Günther
Rolf W
RW
Mahnken
Andreas H
AH
D003287:Contrast Media; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D007472:Iohexol / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D019028:Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Cine; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013318:Stroke Volume; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*; D016278:Ventricular Function, Right / Q000502:physiology*
D003287:Contrast Media; D007472:Iohexol; C038192:iopromide