Four-dimensional Flow MRI-based Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulation for Noninvasive Portosystemic Pressure Gradient Assessment in Patients with Cirrhosis and Transjugular Intrahepatic Portosystemic Shunt.

Background Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) dysfunction in patients with liver cirrhosis and recurrent symptoms of portal hypertension is primarily assessed with US and confirmed with invasive catheter venography, which can be used to measure the portosystemic pressure gradient (PSPG) to identify TIPS-refractory portal hypertension. To avoid the risks and costs of invasive catheter venography, noninvasive PSPG evaluation strategies are needed. Purpose To demonstrate the feasibility of the combination of four-dimensional (4D) flow MRI with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) for noninvasive PSPG assessment in participants with cirrhosis and TIPS.

Cluster analysis of 100 Marfan patients based on aortic 4D flow MRI and Z-score: insights into disease heterogeneity and stratification of subgroups.

Objectives: 4D flow MRI-derived variables from Marfan patients are highly heterogeneous. Our aim was to identify distinct Marfan patient subgroups based on aortic 4D flow MRI and Z-score for stratification of distinct hemodynamic profiles and clinical features by means of hierarchical cluster analysis.

Materials And Methods: One hundred Marfan patients underwent baseline aortic 4D flow MRI at 3 T.

Myocardial strain assessment in the human fetus by cardiac MRI using Doppler ultrasound gating and feature tracking.

Objectives: Assessment of myocardial strain by feature tracking magnetic resonance imaging (FT-MRI) in human fetuses with and without congenital heart disease (CHD) using cardiac Doppler ultrasound (DUS) gating.

Methods: A total of 43 human fetuses (gestational age 28-41 weeks) underwent dynamic cardiac MRI at 3 T. Cine balanced steady-state free-precession imaging was performed using fetal cardiac DUS gating.

Longitudinal follow-up by MR angiography reveals progressive dilatation of the distal aorta after aortic root replacement in Marfan syndrome.

Objectives: To define and compare growth rates of the distal aorta in Marfan patients with and without aortic root replacement using serial MR angiography (MRA).

Methods: We retrospectively included 136 Marfan patients with a total of 645 MRAs who underwent a median of five MRAs (range: 2-13) at 1.5 T and 3 T in annual intervals.

Left ventricular myocardial strain responding to chronic pressure overload in patients with resistant hypertension evaluated by feature-tracking CMR.

Objectives: The study aimed to investigate the alterations of myocardial deformation responding to long-standing pressure overload and the effects of focal myocardial fibrosis using feature-tracking cardiac magnetic resonance (FT-CMR) in patients with resistant hypertension (RH).

Methods: Consecutive RH patients were prospectively recruited and underwent CMR at a single institution. FT-CMR analyses based on cine images were applied to measure left ventricular (LV) peak systolic global longitudinal (GLS), radial (GRS), and circumferential strain (GCS).

Validation of 4D flow cardiovascular magnetic resonance in TIPS stent grafts using a 3D-printed flow phantom.

Background: Four-dimensional (4D) flow cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) is feasible for portal blood flow evaluation after placement of transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunts (TIPS) in patients with liver cirrhosis. However, clinical acceptance of 4D flow CMR in TIPS patients is limited due to the lack of validation studies. The purpose of this study was to validate 4D flow CMR-derived measurements in TIPS stent grafts using a three-dimensional (3D)-printed flow phantom.

Pre-interventional assessment of right renal to right adrenal vein distance: Impact on procedure time and radiation dose in adrenal vein sampling.

Purpose: Adrenal vein sampling (AVS) is the reference standard for evaluation of lateralized hormone production in primary aldosteronism. We aimed to investigate the impact of pre-interventional right renal vein (RRV) to right adrenal vein (RAV) distance measurement on fluoroscopy time, contrast agent exposure and radiation dose during AVS.

Materials And Methods: Forty-five patients with primary aldosteronism undergoing AVS were enrolled in our retrospective study and divided into three groups.

The Evolution and Developing Importance of Fetal Magnetic Resonance Imaging in the Diagnosis of Congenital Cardiac Anomalies: A Systematic Review.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a reliable method, with a complementary role to Ultrasound (US) Echocardiography, that can be used to fully comprehend and precisely diagnose congenital cardiac malformations. Besides the anatomical study of the fetal cardiovascular system, it allows us to study the function of the fetal heart, remaining, at the same time, a safe adjunct to the classic fetal echocardiography. MRI also allows for the investigation of cardiac and placental diseases by providing information about hematocrit, oxygen saturation, and blood flow in fetal vessels.

Left ventricular diastolic filling patterns in competitive triathletes with and without myocardial fibrosis by cardiac magnetic resonance time-volume analysis.

Purpose: To investigate the influence of myocardial fibrosis on left ventricular (LV) diastolic filling patterns in triathletes compared to sedentary controls by cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging.

Method: 101 male triathletes (43 ± 11 years) and 28 controls (41 ± 10 years) were recruited and underwent 1.5 T CMR including cine SSFP series, late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) imaging and T1 mapping.

Fetal 4D flow MRI of the great thoracic vessels at 3 Tesla using Doppler-ultrasound gating: a feasibility study.

Objectives: To evaluate the feasibility of Doppler-ultrasound (DUS)-gated 4D flow MRI of the fetal great thoracic vessels at 3T in a clinical setting.

Methods: Sixteen consecutive fetuses (range 30-38 weeks) with (n = 11) and without (n = 5) cardiovascular anomalies underwent 4D flow MRI of the great thoracic vessels at 3T. Direct fetal cardiac gating was obtained using a MR-compatible DUS device.

Assessment of aortic diameter in Marfan patients: intraindividual comparison of 3D-Dixon and 2D-SSFP magnetic resonance imaging.

Objectives: To compare the accuracy and precision of 3D-Dixon and 2D-SSFP MR-imaging for assessment of aortic diameter in Marfan patients.

Methods: This prospective single-center study investigated respiratory-gated 3D-Dixon and breath-hold 2D-SSFP non-contrast MR-imaging at 3 T in 47 Marfan patients (36.0 ± 13.

Magnetic resonance angiography derived predictors of progressive dilatation and surgery of the aortic root in Marfan syndrome.

Background: To identify magnetic resonance (MR) angiography derived predictors of progressive dilatation and surgery of the aortic root in Marfan syndrome.

Material And Methods: We retrospectively included 111 patients (32.7±16.

Insights into diastolic function analyses using cardiac magnetic resonance imaging: impact of trabeculae and papillary muscles.

Background: This cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) study investigates the impact of trabeculae and papillary muscles (TPM) on diastolic function parameters by differentiation of the time-volume curve. Differentiation causes additional problems, which is overcome by standardization.

Methods: Cine steady-state free-precession imaging at 1.

Anterior Pituitary Volume in Patients with Transfusion Dependent Anemias: Volumetric Approaches and Relation to Pituitary MRI‑R2.

Purpose: Anterior pituitary iron overload and volume shrinkage is common in patients with transfusion-dependent anemia and associated with growth retardation and hypogonadotropic hypogonadism. We investigated the accuracy of different MRI-based pituitary volumetric approaches and the relationship between pituitary volume and MRI-R2, particularly with respect to growth and hypogonadism.

Methods: In 43 patients with transfusion-dependent anemia (12-38 years) and 32 healthy controls (12-72 years), anterior pituitary volume was measured by a sagittal T1 GRE 3D sequence at 1.

Rational surgical neck management in total laryngectomy for advanced stage laryngeal squamous cell carcinomas.

Purpose: Controversies exist in regard to surgical neck management in total laryngectomies (TL). International guidelines do not sufficiently discriminate neck sides and sublevels, or minimal neck-dissection nodal yield (NY).

Methods: Thirty-seven consecutive primary TL cases from 2009 to 2019 were retrospectively analyzed in terms of local tumor growth using a previously established imaging scheme, metastatic neck involvement, and NY impact on survival.

Fetal dynamic magnetic resonance imaging using Doppler ultrasound gating for the assessment of the aortic isthmus: A feasibility study.

Introduction: Cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is established in cardiac evaluation in postnatal life, but its application to the fetus has been hampered by technical limitations. We aimed to investigate the feasibility of dynamic MRI of the fetal aortic isthmus using a magnetic resonance-compatible Doppler ultrasound device for cardiac gating.

Material And Methods: This prospective study included 19 fetuses at a median gestational age of 32.

4D flow cardiovascular magnetic resonance for monitoring of aortic valve repair in bicuspid aortic valve disease.

Background: Aortic valve repair has become a treatment option for adults with symptomatic bicuspid (BAV) or unicuspid (UAV) aortic valve insufficiency. Our aim was to demonstrate the feasibility of 4D flow cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) to assess the impact of aortic valve repair on changes in blood flow dynamics in patients with symptomatic BAV or UAV.

Methods: Twenty patients with adult congenital heart disease (median 35 years, range 18-64; 16 male) and symptomatic aortic valve regurgitation (15 BAV, 5 UAV) were prospectively studied.

Reliability of non-contrast magnetic resonance angiography-derived aortic diameters in Marfan patients: comparison of inner vs. outer vessel wall measurements.

Aortic diameter measurements play a crucial role for the indication of aortic root surgery in Marfan patients. However, for magnetic resonance angiography (MRA)-derived measurements, there is no consensus on whether the aortic wall should be included or excluded in the aortic diameter. The purpose of this retrospective study was to compare the reliability of non-contrast bright blood MRA aortic inner-to-inner and outer-to-outer edge measurements in patients with Marfan syndrome.

Acute impact of an endurance race on cardiac function and biomarkers of myocardial injury in triathletes with and without myocardial fibrosis.

Aims: The aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence of myocardial injury and cardiac dysfunction after an endurance race by biomarkers and cardiac magnetic resonance in triathletes with and without myocardial fibrosis.

Methods And Results: Thirty asymptomatic male triathletes (45 ± 10 years) with over 10 training hours per week and 55 ± 8 ml/kg per minute maximal oxygen uptake during exercise testing were studied before (baseline) and 2.4 ± 1.

Fetal dynamic phase-contrast MR angiography using ultrasound gating and comparison with Doppler ultrasound measurements.

Objectives: To investigate the feasibility of fetal phase-contrast (PC)-MR angiography of the descending aorta (AoD) using an MR-compatible Doppler ultrasound sensor (DUS) for fetal cardiac gating and to compare velocimetry with Doppler ultrasound measurements.

Methods: In this prospective study, 2D PC-MR angiography was performed in 12 human fetuses (mean gestational age 32.8 weeks) using an MR-compatible DUS for gating of the fetal heart at 1.

Dynamic fetal cardiac magnetic resonance imaging in four-chamber view using Doppler ultrasound gating in normal fetal heart and in congenital heart disease: comparison with fetal echocardiography.

Objectives: To investigate the diagnostic performance of dynamic fetal cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), using a MR-compatible Doppler ultrasound (DUS) device for fetal cardiac gating, in differentiating fetuses with congenital heart disease from those with a normal heart, and to compare the technique with fetal echocardiography.

Methods: This was a prospective study of eight fetuses with a normal heart and four with congenital heart disease (CHD), at a median of 34 (range, 28-36) weeks' gestation. Dynamic fetal cardiac MRI was performed using a DUS device for direct cardiac gating.