Phase-contrast magnetic resonance quantification of normal pulmonary venous return.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the feasibility of phase-contrast magnetic resonance (PCMR) in quantifying the pulmonary venous return in normal subjects.


METHODS
PCMR was performed in 12 healthy adult volunteers (mean age 38 years, range 27-60 years; 9 men; body surface area 1.81+/-0.15 m2) for the ascending and descending aorta, caval veins, main and branch pulmonary arteries, and pulmonary veins. Two readers independently quantified blood flow in all subjects.


RESULTS
Intraobserver differences were -2.0% (95% confidence interval [CI]: -9.9% to 5.9%), -4.5% (95% CI: -15.6% to 6.5%), and -0.7% (95% CI: -4.5% to 3.0%) for all vessels, pulmonary veins, and other great vessels, respectively. Interobserver differences were -2.0% (95% CI: -10.6% to 6.6%), -3.1% (95% CI: -16.0% to 9.9%), and -1.4% (95% CI: -6.4% to 3.5%) for all vessels, pulmonary veins, and other great vessels, respectively. Pulmonary venous flow volume showed high correlations with the volumes of the pulmonary arterial flow, systemic arterial flow, and systemic venous flow (r=0.76-0.92, P<0.005).


CONCLUSIONS
Flow quantification of normal pulmonary venous return using PCMR is feasible with high reproducibility and accuracy.
Goo
Hyun Woo
HW
Department of Diagnostic Imaging, The Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Al-Otay
Abdulmajeed
A
Grosse-Wortmann
Lars
L
Wu
Shengping
S
Macgowan
Christopher K
CK
Yoo
Shi-Joon
SJ
D000328:Adult; D001011:Aorta / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity / Q000502:physiology; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D008168:Lung / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000098:blood supply; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011651:Pulmonary Artery / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D011652:Pulmonary Circulation / Q000502:physiology; D011667:Pulmonary Veins / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013318:Stroke Volume / Q000502:physiology