Comparison of magnetic resonance feature tracking for strain calculation with harmonic phase imaging analysis.
OBJECTIVE
To compare a steady-state free precession cine sequence-based technique (feature tracking [FT]) to tagged harmonic phase (HARP) analysis for peak average circumferential myocardial strain (epsilon(cc)) analysis in a large and heterogeneous population of boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).


BACKGROUND
Current epsilon(cc) assessment techniques require cardiac magnetic resonance-tagged imaging sequences, and their analysis is complex. The FT method can readily be performed on standard cine (steady-state free precession) sequences.


METHODS
We compared mid-left ventricular whole-slice epsilon(cc) by the 2 techniques in 191 DMD patients grouped according to age and severity of cardiac dysfunction: group B: DMD patients 10 years and younger with normal ejection fraction (EF); group C: DMD patients older than 10 years with normal EF; group D: DMD patients older than 10 years with reduced EF but negative myocardial delayed enhancement (MDE); group E: DMD patients older than 10 years with reduced EF and positive MDE; and group A: 42 control subjects. Retrospective, offline analysis was performed on matched tagged and steady-state free precession slices.


RESULTS
For the entire study population (N = 233), mean FT epsilon(cc) values (-13.3 +/- 3.8%) were highly correlated with HARP epsilon(cc) values (-13.6 +/- 3.4%), with a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.899. The mean epsilon(cc) of DMD patients determined by HARP (-12.52 +/- 2.69%) and FT (-12.16 +/- 3.12%) was not significantly different (p = NS). Similarly, the mean epsilon(cc) of the control subjects by determined HARP (-18.85 +/- 1.86) and FT (-18.81 +/- 1.83) was not significantly different (p = NS). Excellent correlation between the 2 methods was found among subgroups A through E, except there was no significant difference in strain between groups B and C with FT analysis.


CONCLUSIONS
FT-based assessment of epsilon(cc) correlates highly with epsilon(cc) derived from tagged images in a large DMD patient population with a wide range of cardiac dysfunction and can be performed without additional imaging.
Department of Cardiology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
Kan N
KN
Hor
William M
WM
Gottliebson
Christopher
C
Carson
Erin
E
Wash
James
J
Cnota
Robert
R
Fleck
Janaka
J
Wansapura
Piotr
P
Klimeczek
Hussein R
HR
Al-Khalidi
Eugene S
ES
Chung
D Woodrow
DW
Benson
Wojciech
W
Mazur
D000293:Adolescent; D000465:Algorithms; D009202:Cardiomyopathies / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; D019028:Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Cine; D008297:Male; D020388:Muscular Dystrophy, Duchenne / Q000150:complications*; D009200:Myocardial Contraction; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013318:Stroke Volume; D013997:Time Factors; D016277:Ventricular Function, Left; D055815:Young Adult