Quantification of cardiovascular flow and motion : aspects of regional myocardial function and flow patterns in the aortic root and the aorta

Abstract: Quantification of cardiovascular flow and motion is essential in the diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of cardiovascular disease. The accuracy and quantification of many imaging methods used in this field have important shortfalls, however, that result from limitations in spatial and temporal dimensions. Improvement in application of these methods requires an in-depth understanding of the technical and perceptual aspects that contribute to errors in their use.Visual assessment of echocardiographic images for asynchrony in regional myocardial motion during systolic contraction is an example of the need for better definition of limitations. The discernible delay in wall motion improved from 89 ms to 71 ms by allowing side-by-side comparison to normal motion. Clinically important delays are almost certainly missed with current "eyeballing" methods. Different and more quantitative approaches to this problem have been developed. Anatomic M-mode (AMM) assesses motion along an arbitrary line within a two-dimensional (2D) image, and was demonstrably robust in the clinical setting when used with second harmonic imaging at a depth less than 20 cm and with angle correction ofless than 60°. Doppler myocardial (DMI) imaging and strain rate imaging (SRI) were also shown to reliably demonstrate the effects of inotropic stimulation, total and severe ischemia on asynchrony in a closed chest pig model. Quantification of the changes induced by inotropy and total ischemia was possible with both methods, but the effects of stunning were not. Regional myocardial function and cardiovascular flow can also be assessed with time-resolved, three-directional, three-dimensional (3D) velocity data acquired using phase contrast magnetic resonance imaging (PC-MRI). This multidimensional data demonstrated longitudinal velocity gradients along all four walls of the left ventricle, with miuirnal apical longitudinal motion. The 3D velocity vector from single points in the ventricular wall shows that the motion over the cardiac cycle is complex in all dimensions. The flow patterns in the aortic root were also studied using time-resolved 3D PC-MRI in normal volunteers and patients who had undergone aortic-valve sparing surgery using straight Dacron grafts. In normals, vortices appeared in the sinuses of Valsalva in late systole, increased in size with the deceleration of aortic outflow and moved together as the valve closed in early diastole. These normal flow structures have never before been demonstrated in three dimensions in man. In the postoperative patients, lacking both sinuses and sinotubular junction, vortices were not observed.Many imaging methods can be improved by a critical definition of the limits oftheir reliability. This can prompt the modifications and new methods which allow us to move beyond the original shortcomings and contribute new knowledge regarding the pathophysiology of cardiovascular disease.