Phase-contrast MRI analysis of cerebral blood and CSF flow dynamic interactions.

Background: Following the Monro-Kellie doctrine, the Cerebral Blood Volume Changes (CB_VC) should be mirrored by the Cerebrospinal Fluid Volume Changes (CSF_VC) at the spinal canal. Cervical level is often chosen to estimate CB_VC during the cardiac cycle. However, due to the heterogeneity in the anatomy of extracranial internal jugular veins and their high compliance, we hypothesize that the intracranial level could be a better choice to investigate blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) interactions.

Characterization of cardiac resynchronization therapy response through machine learning and personalized models.

Introduction: The characterization and selection of heart failure (HF) patients for cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) remain challenging, with around 30% non-responder rate despite following current guidelines. This study aims to propose a novel hybrid approach, integrating machine-learning and personalized models, to identify explainable phenogroups of HF patients and predict their CRT response.

Methods: The paper proposes the creation of a complete personalized model population based on preoperative CRT patient strain curves.

Cerebral arterial flow dynamics during systole and diastole phases in young and older healthy adults.

Background: Since arterial flow is the leading actor in neuro-fluids flow dynamics, it might be interesting to assess whether it is meaningful to study the arterial flow waveform in more detail and whether this provides new important information. Few studies have focused on determining the influence of heart rate variation over time on the arterial flow curve. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate cerebral arterial flow waveforms at extracranial and intracranial compartments in young and elderly healthy adults, also considering systole and diastole phases.

Model-based estimation of left ventricular pressure and myocardial work in aortic stenosis.

This paper proposes a model-based estimation of left ventricular (LV) pressure for the evaluation of constructive and wasted myocardial work of patients with aortic stenosis (AS). A model of the cardiovascular system is proposed, including descriptions of i) cardiac electrical activity, ii) elastance-based cardiac cavities, iii) systemic and pulmonary circulations and iv) heart valves. After a sensitivity analysis of model parameters, an identification strategy was implemented using a Monte-Carlo cross-validation approach.