Cine MR imaging-current use in cardiac diagnosis

This paper reviews the current status of cine MR imaging of the heart with special attention to the assessment of cardiac function. Cine MR provides tomographic sectional images with clear distinction between myocardium and flowing blood, and allows accurate volumetry of the cardiac chambers at specific points of the cardiac cycle. From these volume measurements parameters for the cardiac function, such as stroke volumem, ejection fraction, regurgitant fraction and shunt volum are calculated. While determination of chamber volumes can be done using any imaging plane, regional wall motion and wall thickening are evaluated with the short axis images. These images are readily obtained by orienting the slice selective gradient perpendicular to the long axis of the left ventricle. Left ventricular meridional wall stress is also calculated from cine MR images and noninvasive measurements of peak- and end-systolic pressure. Wall stress is an indicator of myocardial function in response to after load and can be used for monitoring patients with myocardial disease, regurgitant valvular disease and hypertension, and might be used to quantitatively assess the response of these diseases to therapy. Diseases causing hypertrophy of the ventricles, such as valvular stenosis, systemic or pulmonary hypertension and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, can be monitored with cine MR by measuring the myocardial mass. A signal void from high velocity jets is caused by regurgitant or stenotic valvular lesion as well as flow across ventricular or atrial septal defects. Measurement of the dimension of the signal void have been correlated with the severity of regurgitation and can be used for semi-quantitation of these lesions. Due to the inherent contrast between blood and myocardium, high temporal resolution, and acquisition of tomographic images encompassing the entire heart, cine MR can serve as a comprehensive cardiac imaging modality that provides quantitative evaluation of anatomy and function of the heart.