Parameters for characterizing diastolic function with cardiac magnetic resonance imaging

Abstract

23 healthy subjects and 23 patients with isolated diastolic dysfunction were examined with cine magnetic resonance imaging to find new markers for the diastolic heart function. A single mid-ventricular short axis slice in the true cardiac axis was used and endo- and epicardial borders were hand drawn. Five features were applied to characterize isolated diastolic function: Irregularity marker of contraction calculated as the sum of the standard deviations of corresponding points across all frames (IRREG); slope of a linear fit to the diastolic area change (SLOPE); slope of the minimal and mean wall thickness (MINWTH/MEANWTH); shift parameter of the least-squares fit of the sigmoid Fermi-Junction (SHIFT). The parameters were corrected for through-plane motion. MINWTH, MEANWTH, and SHIFT differed significantly in both groups. These features represent promising objective parameters to discriminate patients with diastolic dysfunction from healthy subjects.