Quantification of regurgitation in mitral valve prolapse with four-dimensional flow cardiovascular magnetic resonance.

BACKGROUND: Four-dimensional cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) flow assessment (4D flow) allows to derive volumetric quantitative parameters in mitral regurgitation (MR) using retrospective valve tracking. However, prior studies have been conducted in functional MR or in patients with congenital heart disease, thus, data regarding the usefulness of 4D flow CMR in case of a valve pathology like mitral valve prolapse (MVP) are scarce. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical utility of cine-guided valve segmentation of 4D flow CMR in assessment of MR in MVP when compared to standardized routine CMR and transthoracic echocardiography (TTE). METHODS: Six healthy subjects and 54 patients (55 ± 16 years; 47 men) with MVP were studied. TTE severity grading used a multiparametric approach resulting in mild/mild-moderate (n = 12), moderate-severe (n = 12), and severe MR (n = 30). Regurgitant volume (RVol) and regurgitant fraction (RF) were also derived using standard volumetric CMR and 4D flow CMR datasets with direct measurement of regurgitant flow (4DFdirect) and indirect calculation using the formula: mitral valve forward flow - left ventricular outflow tract stroke volume (4DFindirect). RESULTS: There was moderate to strong correlation between methods (r = 0.59-0.84, p < 0.001), but TTE proximal isovelocity surface area (PISA) method showed higher RVol as compared with CMR techniques (PISA vs. CMR, mean difference of 15.8 ml [95% CI 9.9-21.6]; PISA vs. 4DFindirect, 17.2 ml [8.4-25.9]; PISA vs. 4DFdirect, 27.9 ml [19.1-36.8]; p < 0.001). Only indirect CMR methods (CMR vs. 4DFindirect) showed moderate to substantial agreement (Lin's coefficient 0.92-0.97) without significant bias (mean bias 1.05 ± 26 ml [- 50 to 52], p = 0.757). Intra- and inter-observer reliability were good to excellent for all methods (ICC 0.87-0.99), but with numerically lower coefficient of variation for indirect CMR methods (2.5 to 12%). CONCLUSIONS: In the assessment of patients with MR and MVP, cine-guided valve segmentation 4D flow CMR is feasible and comparable to standard CMR, but with lower RVol when TTE is used as reference. 4DFindirect quantification has higher intra- and inter-technique agreement than 4DFdirect quantification and might be used as an adjunctive technique for cross-checking MR quantification in MVP.

Endemic influences of political regimes, healthcare systems, and preferences on the frequencies and incidences of nephropathies in eastern Saxony, Germany
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INTRODUCTION: The possible confounding influence of investigator-related preferences, available histological techniques, and healthcare systems on the frequencies and incidences of primary and secondary nephropathies was evaluated in this long-term observation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The observation time from 1983 to 2010 was divided in regard to the political regimes: a) prior to and after German reunification: German Democratic Republic (GDR, period 1 from 1983 to 1990)/Federal Republic of Germany (FRG, period 2 from 1990 to 2010); and the two heads of the division of nephrology, b) conductor 1 (1983 - 2006) and conductor 2 (2006 - 2010). 467 kidney biopsies at the University Hospital of Leipzig were included in our analysis. RESULTS: In period 1, due to the unavailability of immunofluorescence methods, mesangioproliferative glomerulonephritis (MesP) was the most dominating nephropathy. In period 2, IgA nephropathy (IgAN) was the most common nephropathy (17%). IgAN was followed by crescentic glomerulonephritis (13%), hypertensive nephropathy (10%), minimal-change disease, and membranous glomerulonephritis (each 9%). From period 1 to period 2, MesP/IgAN (62% to 16%), membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis and postinfectious glomerulonephritis decreased significantly (p < 0.05). IgAN decreased significantly (p < 0.05) from conductor 1 to conductor 2 (21% to 6%), while diabetic nephropathy significantly increased. Focal-segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) had the highest incidence rate with 1.0, followed by IgAN with 0.8 (per 100,000 per year). CONCLUSION: In a nearly ethnically identical cohort, we have demonstrated that confounding factors, e.g., healthcare systems and preferences of conductors, have a strong influence - more than 10-fold variance - on frequency and incidence on the spectrum of nephropathies.
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Left ventricular fibrosis and CMR tissue characterization of papillary muscles in mitral valve prolapse patients.

PURPOSE: Mitral valve prolapse (MVP) is associated with left ventricle (LV) fibrosis, including the papillary muscles (PM), which is in turn linked to malignant arrhythmias. This study aims to evaluate comprehensive tissue characterization of the PM by cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging and its association with LV fibrosis observed by intraoperative biopsies. METHODS: MVP patients with indication for surgery due to severe mitral regurgitation (n = 19) underwent a preoperative CMR with characterization of the PM: dark-appearance on cine, T1 mapping, conventional bright blood (BB) and dark blood (DB) late gadolinium enhancement (LGE). CMR T1 mapping was performed on 21 healthy volunteers as controls. LV inferobasal myocardial biopsies were obtained in MVP patients and compared to CMR findings. RESULTS: MVP patients (54 ± 10 years old, 14 male) had a dark-appearance of the PM with higher native T1 and extracellular volume (ECV) values compared with healthy volunteers (1096 ± 78ms vs. 994 ± 54ms and 33.9 ± 5.6% vs. 25.9 ± 3.1%, respectively, p < 0.001). Seventeen MVP patients (89.5%) had fibrosis by biopsy. BB-LGE + in LV and PM was identified in 5 (26.3%) patients, while DB-LGE + was observed in LV in 9 (47.4%) and in PM in 15 (78.9%) patients. DB-LGE + in PM was the only technique that showed no difference with detection of LV fibrosis by biopsy. Posteromedial PM was more frequently affected than the anterolateral (73.7% vs. 36.8%, p = 0.039) and correlated with biopsy-proven LV fibrosis (Rho 0.529, p = 0.029). CONCLUSIONS: CMR imaging in MVP patients referred for surgery shows a dark-appearance of the PM with higher T1 and ECV values compared with healthy volunteers. The presence of a positive DB-LGE at the posteromedial PM by CMR may serve as a better predictor of biopsy-proven LV inferobasal fibrosis than conventional CMR techniques.

Left Ventricular Fibrosis and CMR Tissue Characterization of Papillary Muscles in Mitral Valve Prolapse Patients.

Purpose: Mitral valve prolapse (MVP) is associated with left ventricle (LV) fibrosis, including the papillary muscles (PM), which is in turn linked to malignant arrhythmias. This study aims to evaluate comprehensive tissue characterization of the PM by cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging and its association with LV fibrosis observed by intraoperative biopsies. Methods: MVP patients with indication for surgery due to severe mitral regurgitation (n=19) underwent a preoperative CMR with characterization of the PM: dark-appearance on cine, T1 mapping, conventional bright blood (BB) and dark blood (DB) late gadolinium enhancement (LGE). CMR T1 mapping was performed on 21 healthy volunteers as controls. LV inferobasal myocardial biopsies were obtained in MVP patients and compared to CMR findings. Results: MVP patients (54±10 years old, 14 male) had a dark-appearance of the PM with higher native T1 and extracellular volume (ECV) values compared with healthy volunteers (1096±78ms vs 994±54ms and 33.9±5.6% vs 25.9±3.1%, respectively, p<0.001). Seventeen MVP patients (89.5%) had fibrosis by biopsy. BB-LGE+ in LV and PM was identified in 5 (26.3%) patients, while DB-LGE+ was observed in LV in 9 (47.4%) and in PM in 15 (78.9%) patients. DB-LGE+ in PM was the only technique that showed no difference with detection of LV fibrosis by biopsy. Posteromedial PM was more frequently affected than the anterolateral (73.7% vs 36.8%, p=0.039) and correlated with biopsy-proven LV fibrosis (Rho 0.529, p=0.029). Conclusions: CMR imaging in MVP patients referred for surgery shows a dark-appearance of the PM with higher T1 and ECV values compared with healthy volunteers. The presence of a positive DB-LGE at the posteromedial PM by CMR may serve as a better predictor of biopsy-proven LV inferobasal fibrosis than conventional CMR techniques.

Minimally invasive ventricular assist device implantation.

Durable mechanical circulatory support (MCS) systems are established therapy option in patients with end-stage heart failure, with increasing importance during the last years due to donor organ shortage. Left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) are traditionally implanted through median sternotomy (MS). However, improvement in the pump designs during the last years led to evolvement of new surgical approaches that aim to reduce the invasiveness of the procedure. Numerous reports and studies have shown the viability and possible advantages of less-invasive approach compared to the sternotomy approach. The less invasive implant strategies for LVADs, while vague in definition, are characterized by minimizing surgical trauma and if possible, cardio-pulmonary bypass related complications. Usually it involves minimizing or completely avoiding sternal trauma, avoiding heart luxation while simultaneously leaving the major part of pericardium intact. There is no consensus between the centers regarding the ideal approach for LVAD implantation. Some centers, like our center, perform by default VAD implantation using less invasive approach in almost all patients and some centers use only sternotomy approach. The aim of this review article is to shed light on the currently available less invasive options of LVAD implantation, with particular focus on the centrifugal pumps, and their possible advantages compared to traditional sternotomy approach.

Quantification of regurgitation in mitral valve prolapse with automated real time echocardiographic 3D proximal isovelocity surface area: multimodality consistency and role of eccentricity index.

Three-dimensional transthoracic echocardiography (3D-TTE) provides a semi-automated proximal isovelocity surface area method (3D-PISA) to obtain quantitative parameters. Data assessing regurgitation severity in mitral valve prolapse (MVP) are scarce, so we assessed the 3D-PISA method compared with 2D-PISA and cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) and the role of an eccentricity index. We evaluated the 3D-PISA method for assessing MR in 54 patients with MVP (57 ± 14 years; 42 men; 12 mild/mild-moderate; 12 moderate-severe; and 30 severe MR). Role of an asymmetric (i.e. eccentricity index ≥ 1.25) flow convergence region (FCR) and inter-modality consistency were then assessed. 3D-PISA derived regurgitant volume (RVol) showed a good correlation with 2D-PISA and CMR derived parameters (r = 0.86 and r = 0.81, respectively). The small mean differences with 2D-PISA derived RVol did not reach statistical significance in overall population (5.7 ± 23 ml, 95% CI - 0.6 to 12; p = 0.08) but differed in those with asymmetric 3D-FCR (n = 21; 2D-PISA: 72 ± 36 ml vs. 3D-PISA: 93 ± 47 ml; p = 0.001). RVol mean values were higher using PISA methods (CMR 57 ± 33 ml; 2D-PISA 73 ± 39 ml; and 3D-PISA 79 ± 45 ml) and an overestimation was observed when CMR was used as reference (2D-PISA vs. CMR: mean difference: 15.8 ml [95% CI 10-22, p < 0.001]; and 3D-PISA vs. CMR: 21.5 ml [95% CI 14-29, p < 0.001]). Intra- and inter-observer reliability was excellent (ICC 0.91-0.99), but with numerically lower coefficient of variation for 3D-PISA (8%-10% vs. 2D-PISA: 12%-16%). 3D-PISA method for assessing regurgitation in MVP may enable analogous evaluation compared to standard 2D-PISA, but with overestimation in case of asymmetric FCR or when CMR is used as reference method.