Cardiac MR elastography for quantitative assessment of elevated myocardial stiffness in cardiac amyloidosis

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30 Scopus citations

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate if cardiac magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) can measure increased stiffness in patients with cardiac amyloidosis. Myocardial tissue stiffness plays an important role in cardiac function. A noninvasive quantitative imaging technique capable of measuring myocardial stiffness could aid in disease diagnosis, therapy monitoring, and disease prognostic strategies. We recently developed a high-frequency cardiac MRE technique capable of making noninvasive stiffness measurements. Materials and Methods: In all, 16 volunteers and 22 patients with cardiac amyloidosis were enrolled in this study after Institutional Review Board approval and obtaining formal written consent. All subjects were imaged head-first in the supine position in a 1.5T closed-bore MR imager. 3D MRE was performed using 5 mm isotropic resolution oblique short-axis slices and a vibration frequency of 140 Hz to obtain global quantitative in vivo left ventricular stiffness measurements. The median stiffness was compared between the two cohorts. An octahedral shear strain signal-to-noise ratio (OSS-SNR) threshold of 1.17 was used to exclude exams with insufficient motion amplitude. Results: Five volunteers and six patients had to be excluded from the study because they fell below the 1.17 OSS-SNR threshold. The myocardial stiffness of cardiac amyloid patients (median: 11.4 kPa, min: 9.2, max: 15.7) was significantly higher (P = 0.0008) than normal controls (median: 8.2 kPa, min: 7.2, max: 11.8). Conclusion: This study demonstrates the feasibility of 3D high-frequency cardiac MRE as a contrast-agent-free diagnostic imaging technique for cardiac amyloidosis. Level of Evidence: 2. Technical Efficacy: Stage 2. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2017;46:1361–1367.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1361-1367
Number of pages7
JournalJournal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Volume46
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 2017

Keywords

  • #cardiac MRE
  • #cardiac amyloidosis
  • magnetic resonance elastography
  • myocardial stiffness
  • quantitative stiffness imaging

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Radiology Nuclear Medicine and imaging

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