• Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.185-196
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• 2022

BACKGROUND: Two-dimensional (2D) strain provides more predictive power than ejection fraction (EF) in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). 3D strain and EF are also expected to have better clinical usefulness and overcome several inherent limitations of 2D strain. We aimed to clarify the prognostic significance of 3D strain analysis in patients with STEMI. METHODS: Patients who underwent successful revascularization for STEMI were retrospectively recruited. In addition to conventional parameters, 3D EF, global longitudinal strain (GLS), global area strain (GAS), as well as 2D GLS were obtained. We constructed a composite outcome consisting of all-cause death or re-hospitalization for acute heart failure or ventricular arrhythmia. RESULTS: Of 632 STEMI patients, 545 patients (86.2%) had a reliable 3D strain analysis. During median follow-up of 49.5 months, 55 (10.1%) patients experienced the adverse outcome. Left ventricle EF, 2D GLS, 3D EF, 3D GLS, and 3D GAS were significantly associated with poor outcomes. (all, p < 0.001) The maximum likelihood-ratio test was performed to evaluate the additional prognostic value of 2D GLS or 3D GLS over the prognostic model consisting of clinical characteristics and EF, and the likelihood ratio was 15.9 for 2D GLS (p < 0.001) and 1.49 for 3D GLS (p = 0.22). CONCLUSIONS: The predictive power of 3D strain was slightly lower than the 2D strain. Although we can obtain 3D strains, volume, and EF simultaneously in same cycle, the clinical implications of 3D strains in STEMI need to be investigated further.

• Journal of KIISE:Software and Applications
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• v.36 no.10
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• pp.825-835
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• 2009

The advance in medical technology has decreased death rates from diseases such as tubercle, pneumonia, malnutrition, and hepatitis. However, death rates from cardiac diseases are still increasing. To prevent cardiac diseases and quantify cardiac function, magnetic resonance imaging not harmful to the body is used for calculating blood volumes and ejection fraction(EF) on routine clinics. In this paper, automatic left ventricle(LV) segmentation is presented to segment LV and calculate blood volume and EF, which can replace labor intensive and time consuming manual contouring. Radial threshold determination is designed to segment LV and blood volume and EF are calculated. Especially, basal slices which were difficult to segment in previous researches are segmented automatically almost without user intervention. On short axis cardiac MRI of 36 subjects, the presented algorithm is compared with manual contouring and General Electronic MASS software. The results show that the presented algorithm performs in similar to the manual contouring and outperforms the MASS software in accuracy.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.20-27
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• 2017

Purpose: To evaluate quantification results of single breath-hold (SBH) magnetic resonance (MR) cine imaging compared to results of conventional multiple breath-hold (MBH) technique for left ventricular (LV) function in patients with cardiac arrhythmia. Materials and Methods: MR images of patients with arrhythmia who underwent MBH and SBH cine imaging at the same time on a 1.5T MR scanner were retrospectively reviewed. Both SBH and MBH cine imaging were performed with balanced steady state free precession. SBH scans were acquired using temporal parallel acquisition technique (TPAT). Fifty patients ($65.4{\pm}12.3years$, 72% men) were included. End-diastolic volume (EDV), end-systolic volume (ESV), stroke volume (SV), ejection fraction (EF), myocardial mass, and LV regional wall motion were evaluated. Results: EF, myocardial mass, and regional wall motion were not significantly different between SBH and MBH acquisition techniques (all P-values > 0.05). EDV, ESV, and SV were significant difference between the two techniques. These parameters for SBH cine imaging with TPAT tended to lower than those in MBH. EF and myocardial mass of SBH cine imaging with TPAT showed good correlation with values of MBH cine imaging in Passing-Bablok regression charts and Bland-Altman plots. However, SBH imaging required significantly shorter acquisition time than MBH cine imaging ($15{\pm}7sec$ vs. $293{\pm}104sec$, P < 0.001). Conclusion: SBH cine imaging with TPAT permits shorter acquisition time with assessment results of global and regional LV function comparable to those with MBH cine imaging in patients with arrhythmia.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.49 no.5
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• pp.350-355
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• 2016

Background: Mitral stenosis (MS) remains one of the important heart diseases. There are many factors that influence the clinical outcomes, and little is known about how left ventricular (LV) dysfunction clinically affects the prognosis of the patient with MS after mitral valve replacement (MVR). We reviewed our clinical experiences of MVR in patients with MS who had LV dysfunction. Methods: Between January 1991 and January 2013, 110 patients with MS who underwent MVR were analyzed and divided into two groups according to ejection fraction (EF). Group 1 ($EF{\leq}45%$) included 13 patients and group 2 (EF>45%) included 97 patients. Results: Thromboembolism occurred in 8 patients after MVR (group 1: n=3, 23.1%; group 2: n=5, 5.2%) and its incidence was significantly higher in group 1 than in group 2 (p=0.014). There were 3 deaths each in groups 1 and 2 during follow-up. The overall rate of cardiac-related death in group 1 was significantly higher than in group 2 (group 1: n=3, 23.1%; group 2: n=3, 3.1%; p=0.007). The cumulative survival rate at 1 and 15 years was 83.9% and 69.9% in group 1 and 97.9% and 96.3% in group 2 (p=0.004). The Cox regression analysis revealed that survival was significantly associated with postoperative stroke (p=0.011, odds ratio=10.304). Conclusion: This study identified postoperative stroke as an adverse prognostic factor in patients with MS after MVR, and a s more prevalent in patients with LV dysfunction. Postoperative stroke should be reduced to improve clinical outcomes for patients. Preventive care should be made in multiple ways, such as management of LV dysfunction, atrial fibrillation, and anticoagulation.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.114-124
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• 2019

Purpose: We investigate biases in the assessments of left ventricular function (LVF), by compressed sensing (CS)-cine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Materials and Methods: Cardiovascular cine images with short axis view, were obtained for 8 volunteers without CS. LVFs were assessed with subsampled data, with compression factors (CF) of 2, 3, 4, and 8. A semi-automatic segmentation program was used, for the assessment. The assessments by 3 CS methods (ITSC, FOCUSS, and view sharing (VS)), were compared to those without CS. Bland-Altman analysis and paired t-test were used, for comparison. In addition, real-time CS-cine imaging was also performed, with CF of 2, 3, 4, and 8 for the same volunteers. Assessments of LVF were similarly made, for CS data. A fixed compensation technique is suggested, to reduce the bias. Results: The assessment of LVF by CS-cine, includes bias and random noise. Bias appeared much larger than random noise. Median of end-diastolic volume (EDV) with CS-cine (ITSC or FOCUSS) appeared -1.4% to -7.1% smaller, compared to that of standard cine, depending on CF from (2 to 8). End-systolic volume (ESV) appeared +1.6% to +14.3% larger, stroke volume (SV), -2.4% to -16.4% smaller, and ejection fraction (EF), -1.1% to -9.2% smaller, with P < 0.05. Bias was reduced from -5.6% to -1.8% for EF, by compensation applied to real-time CS-cine (CF = 8). Conclusion: Loss of temporal resolution by adopting missing data from nearby cardiac frames, causes an underestimation for EDV, and an overestimation for ESV, resulting in underestimations for SV and EF. The bias is not random. Thus it should be removed or reduced for better diagnosis. A fixed compensation is suggested, to reduce bias in the assessment of LVF.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.57 no.3
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• pp.255-262
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• 2024

Background: Sutureless aortic valves may enable shorter procedure times, which benefits patients with elevated surgical risk. We describe the outcomes of patients with aortic stenosis who underwent aortic valve replacement (AVR) using the sutureless Perceval aortic bioprosthesis. Methods: Data from a retrospective cohort were obtained from a clinical database. The study enrolled patients with symptomatic severe aortic stenosis who underwent surgical AVR with a sutureless bioprosthesis between August 2015 and December 2020. In total, 113 patients were included (mean age, 75.3±8.4 years; 57.5% women; median Society of Thoracic Surgeons score, 9.7%; mean follow-up period, 51.19±20.6 months). Of these patients, 41 were octogenarians (36.2%) and 3 were nonagenarians (2.6%). Transthoracic echocardiography was employed to assess changes in ejection fraction (EF), left ventricular mass index (LVMI), and mean pressure gradient (MPG). Results: The in-hospital mortality rate was 2.6%, and 13 patients developed new-onset atrial fibrillation. A permanent pacemaker was implanted in 3 patients (2.6%). The median intensive care unit stay was 1 day (interquartile range [IQR], 1-2 days), and the median hospital stay was 12 days (IQR, 9.5-15 days). The overall survival rate at 5 years was 95.9%. LVMI and MPG were reduced postoperatively, while EF increased over the follow-up period. No structural valve deterioration was observed, and no meaningful paravalvular leakage developed during follow-up. Conclusion: The use of a sutureless valve in the aortic position is safe and feasible, even for high-risk elderly patients requiring surgical AVR. LVMI and MPG decreased postoperatively, while EF increased over the follow-up period.

• Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.279-289
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• 2022

BACKGROUND: In many cardiovascular disorders, the contractile performance of the right ventricle (RV) is the primary determinant of prognosis. For evaluating RV volumes and function, 4 dimensional (4D)-echocardiography has become common. This research used 2D and 4D modalities to assess RV contractile performance in hypertensive patients. METHODS: A total of 150 patients with essential hypertension were enrolled in this study, along with 75 age and sex-matched volunteers. Clinical evaluation and echocardiographic examination (including M-mode, tissue Doppler imaging, and 2D speckle tracking) were conducted on all participants. RV volumes, 4D-ejection fraction (EF), 4D-fractional area change (FAC), 4D-tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE), 4D-septal and free wall (FW) strain were all measured using 4D-echocardiography. RESULTS: Hypertensive patients showed 2D-RV systolic and diastolic dysfunction (including TAPSE, 2D-right ventricular global longitudinal strain, RV-myocardial performance index and average E/EaRV) and 4D-RV impairment (including right ventricular EF, FAC, RV strain and TAPSE, right ventricular end-diastolic volume and right ventricular end-systolic volume) compared to the control group. We verified the prevalence of RV systolic dysfunction in hypertension patients using the following parameters: 1) 15% of them had 2D-TAPSE < 17 mm vs. 40% by 4D-TAPSE; 2) 25% of them had 2D-GLS < 19% vs. 42% by 4D-septal strain and 35% by 4D FW strain; 3) 35% of hypertensive patients had 4D-EF < 45%; and finally; 4) 25% of hypertensive patients had 2D-FAC < 35% compared to 45% by 4D-FAC. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of RV involvement was greater in 4D than in 2D-modality trans-thoracic echocardiography. We speculated that 4D-echocardiography with 4D-strain imaging would be more beneficial for examining RV morphology and function in hypertensive patients than 2D-echocardiography, since 4D-echocardiography could estimate RV volumes and function without making geometric assumptions.

• Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.307-319
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• 2022

BACKGROUND: Current guidelines indicate electrical dyssynchrony as the major criteria for selecting patients for cardiac resynchronization therapy, and 25-35% of patients exhibit unfavorable responses to cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). We aimed to evaluate different cardiac mechanical dyssynchrony parameters in heart failure patients using current echo-Doppler modalities and we analyzed their association with electrical dyssynchrony. METHODS: The study included 120 heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) who underwent assessments for left ventricular mechanical dyssynchrony (LVMD) and interventricular mechanical dyssynchrony (IVMD). RESULTS: Patients were classified according to QRS duration: group I with QRS < 120 ms, group II with QRS 120-149 ms, and group III with QRS ≥ 150 ms. Group III had significantly higher IVMD, LVMD indices, TS-SD speckle-tracking echocardiography (STE) 12 segments (standard deviation of time to peak longitudinal strain speckle tracking echocardiography in 12 LV-segments), and LVMD score compared with group I and group II. Group II and group III were classified according to QRS morphology into left bundle branch block (LBBB) and non-LBBB subgroups. LVMD score, TS-SD 12 TDI, and TS-SD 12 STE had good correlations with QRS duration. CONCLUSIONS: HFrEF patients with wide QRS duration (> 150 ms) had more evident LVMD compared with patients with narrow or intermediate QRS. Those patients with intermediate QRS duration (120-150 ms) had substantial LVMD assessed by both TDI and 2D STE, regardless of QRS morphology. Subsequently, we suggest that LVMD indices might be employed as additive criteria to predict CRT response in that patient subgroup. Electrical and mechanical dyssynchrony were strongly correlated in HFrEF patients.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.381-391
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• 2002

Purpose: The presence of perfusion defect may influence the left ventricular mass (LVM) measurement by quantitative gated myocardial perfusion SPECT (QGS), and ischemic myocardium, usually showing perfusion defect may produce post-stress LV dysfunction. This study was aimed to evaluate the effects of extent and reversibility of perfusion defect on the automatic measurement of LVM by QGS and to investigate the effect of reversibility of perfusion defect on post-stress LV dysfunction. Subjects and Methods: Forty-six patients (male/female=34:12, mean age=64years) with perfusion defect on myocardial perfusion SPECT underwent rest and post-stress QGS. Forty patients (87%) showed reversible defect. End-diastolic volume (EDV), end-systolic volume (ESV), LV ejection fraction (EF), and LV myocardial volume were obtained from QGS by AutoQUANT program, and LVM was calculated by multiplying the LV myocardial volume by the specific gravity of myocardium. Results: LVMs measured at rest and post-stress QGS showed good correlation, and higher correlation was founded in the subjects with fixed perfusion defect and with small defect (smaller than 20%). There were no significant differences in EDVs, ESVs and EFs between obtained by rest and post-stress QGS un patients with fixed myocardial defect. Whereas, EF obtained by post-stress QGS was lower than that by rest QGS in patients with reversible defect and 10 (25%) of them showed decreases in EF more than 5% in post-stress QGS, as compared to that of rest QGS. Excellent correlations of EDVs, ESVs, EFs between rest and post-stress QGS were noted. Patients with fixed defect had higher correlation between EDVs, ESVs, EFs than patients with reversible defect. Conclusion: These results suggest that perfusion defect can affect LVM measurement by QGS and patients with reversible defect shows post-stress LV dysfunction more frequently than patients with fixed perfusion defect.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.175-182
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• 1987

For measurement of ventricular performance, ejection fraction (EF) has gained wide acceptance. But EF is influenced not only by changes in muscle function but also by changes in cardiac loading conditions. In case of valvular heart disease which is variable in loading conditions, EF cannot be reliable as an index of myocardial contractility. The end systolic pressure (ESP)-end systolic volume (ESV) relation, howver, is known to represent myocardial contractility, independent of changes in loading conditions. Similar results can be obtained by using peak-systolic pressure (PSP) instead of ESP. To evaluate the utility of the peak systolic pressure-end systolic volume index (PSP-ESVI) relation as an index of myocardial function, we measured $PSP&ESVI$ in 19 partents with coronary artery disease before $(PSP_1\;&\;ESVI_1)$ and after $(PSP_2\;&\;ESVI_2)$ sublingual administration of nitroglycerin. PSP was measured with standard mercury sphygmomanometer during gated blood pool scintigraphic study. ESVI was measured by count derived method after attenuation correction. $PSP_2\;&\;ESVI_2$ measurement was started when the fall of PSP was greater than 5 mmHg after 7-14 minutes post-administration of nitroglycerin. Mean values $({\pm}S.D.)$ of $PSP_1\;&\;ESVI_1$ was $124.9({\pm}20.7)mmHg\;&\;59.4({\pm}39.9)ml/M^2$. Mean values $({\pm}S.D)$ of $PSP_2\;&\;ESVI_2$, was $113.2({\pm}19.9)mmHg\;&\;37.5({\pm}26.1)ml/M^2$. There was a significant difference between mean values of $PSP_1\;&\;PSP_2$, (p<0.01), and mean values of $ESVI_1\;&\;ESVI_2$, (p<0.01). $PSP_1-PSP_2/ESV_1-ESVI_2,\;PSP_1/ESVI_1$ and EF were in the range of 0.14-5.19 mmHg/ml/$M^2$, 0.67-7.68 mmHg/ml/$M^2$ and 10.8%-74.5% respectively. $PSP_1-PSP_2/ESVI_1-ESVI_2$, and EF showed exponential correlation (r=0.85, P<0.01). The correlation coefficient between $PSP_1/ESVI_1$ and EF was 0.73(p<0.01). With the above results, we suggest that $PSP_1-PSP_2/ESVI_1-ESVI_2$, and $PSP_1/ESVI_1$, can be used as an index of myocardial function.