title: Variability of Mouse Left Ventricular Function Assessment by 11.7 Tesla MRI.
abstract: We studied intraobserver (n = 24), interobserver (n = 24) and interexperiment (n = 12) reproducibility of left ventricular (LV) mass and volume measurements in mice using an 11.7 T MRI system. The LV systolic function was assessed with a short-axis FLASH-cine sequence in 29 mice, including animals having undergone transverse aortic constriction. Bland-Altman and regression analysis were used to compare the different data sets. Reproducibility was excellent for the LV mass and end-diastolic volume (coefficient of variability (CoV) between 5.4 and 11.8 %), good for end-systolic volume (CoV 15.2-19.4 %) and moderate for stroke volume and ejection fraction (CoV 14.7-20.9 %). We found an excellent correlation between LV mass determined by MRI and ex vivo morphometric data (r = 0.92). In conclusion, LV systolic function can be assessed on an 11.7 T MRI scanner with high reproducibility for most parameters, as needed in longitudinal studies. However, data should be interpreted taking into account the moderate reproducibility of small volumes.
authors.affiliation: Division of Paediatric Cardiology, Department of Paediatrics, Cliniques Universitaires St. Luc, Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL), Avenue Hippocrate 10/1380, B-1200, Brussels, Belgium, laetitia.vanhoutte@uclouvain.be.
authors.forename: Laetitia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vanhoutte
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gallez
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Feron
authors.forename: Jean-Luc
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Balligand
authors.forename: Hrag
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Esfahani
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: d'Hoore
authors.forename: Stéphane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Moniotte
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D019028:Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Cine / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013318:Stroke Volume; D018487:Ventricular Dysfunction, Left / Q000503:physiopathology*