Projection-based respiratory-resolved left ventricular volume measurements in patients using free-breathing double golden-angle 3D radial acquisition

Objective

To refine a new technique to measure respiratory-resolved left ventricular end-diastolic volume (LVEDV) in mid-inspiration and mid-expiration using a respiratory self-gating technique and demonstrate clinical feasibility in patients.

Materials and methods

Ten consecutive patients were imaged at 1.5 T during 10 min of free breathing using a 3D golden-angle radial trajectory. Two respiratory self-gating signals were extracted and compared: from the k-space center of all acquired spokes, and from a superior–inferior projection spoke repeated every 64 ms. Data were binned into end-diastole and two respiratory phases of 15% respiratory cycle duration in mid-inspiration and mid-expiration. LVED volume and septal–lateral diameter were measured from manual segmentation of the endocardial border.

Results

Respiratory-induced variation in LVED size expressed as mid-inspiration relative to mid-expiration was, for volume, 1 ± 8% with k-space-based self-gating and 8 ± 2% with projection-based self-gating (P = 0.04), and for septal–lateral diameter, 2 ± 2% with k-space-based self-gating and 10 ± 1% with projection-based self-gating (P = 0.002).

Discussion

Measuring respiratory variation in LVED size was possible in clinical patients with projection-based respiratory self-gating, and the measured respiratory variation was consistent with previous studies on healthy volunteers. Projection-based self-gating detected a higher variation in LVED volume and diameter during respiration, compared to k-space-based self-gating.