Strain analysis using feature tracking cardiac magnetic resonance (FT-CMR) in assessment of myocardial viability in chronic ischemic patients

Abstract

Myocardial viability assessment is crucial in chronic ischemic patients for treatment decisions. LGE sequence, having a high spatial resolution, has been vastly used as the gold standard noninvasive study to visualise scar and determine scar transmurality. However, it is still subject to observational bias and carries the limitation of contrast administration in patients with renal affection. Strain analysis provides quantifiable measurable values of the degree of myocardial deformation and thus it could potentially help to reduce subjectivity in myocardial viability assessment. Feature tracking-cardiac magnetic resonance (FT-CMR) is a novel strain analysis technique that uses routinely acquired cine images to assess global and segmental myocardial deformation using 3 different strain parameters, namely the longitudinal, radial and circumferential strain. We aimed to test the capability of a commercially available FT-CMR strain analysis software module in differentiating between viable and non-viable myocardium in chronic ischemic patients.