Estimation of left ventricular performance through temporal pressure variations measured by MR velocity and acceleration mappings

Purpose To describe a method for assessing pressure variation vs. time (dp/dt) using blood flow acceleration measured by MRI, and to demonstrate its applicability in estimating left ventricular (LV) function. Materials and Methods The method was tested in vitro using a pulsatile phantom, and a strong correlation was found between transducer and MRI determinations of dp/dt (r = 0.98). Selected aortic flow parameters were then measured in 10 patients and the results were compared with transducer measurements of the LV dp/dt. Results The correlation coefficients for the reference estimations of global myocardial function and MRI were 0.59 for aortic velocity, 0.74 for aortic acceleration, and 0.86 for aortic dp/dt. Conclusion MR measurements of velocity and acceleration within the ascending aorta offer a noninvasive method for determining indices, such as the aortic dp/dt, that are closely correlated with the global myocardial contractility function. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2002;16:246–252. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.