Objectives To test the hypothesis that two-dimensional (2D) displacement encoding via stimulated echoes (DENSE) is a reproducible technique for the depiction of segmental myocardial motion in human subjects. Materials and methods Following the approval of the institutional review board (IRB), 17 healthy volunteers without documented history of cardiovascular disease were recruited. For each participant, 2D DENSE were performed twice (at different days) and the images were obtained at basal, midventricular and apical levels of the left ventricle (LV) with a short-axis view. The radial thickening strain (Err), circumferential strain (Ecc), twist and torsion were calculated. The intra-, inter-observer and inter-study variations of DENSE-derived myocardial motion indices were evaluated using coefficient of variation (CoV) and intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC). Results In total, there are 272 pairs of myocardial segments (data points) for comparison. There is good intra- and inter-observer reproducibility for all DENSE-derived measures in 17 participants. There is good inter-study reproducibility for peak Ecc (CoV = 19.64%, ICC = 0.8896, p < 0.001), twist (CoV= 33.11%, ICC = 0.9135, p < 0.001) and torsion (CoV = 13.96%, ICC = 0.8684, p < 0.001). There is moderate inter-study reproducibility for Err (CoV = 38.89%, ICC = 0.7022, p < 0.001). Conclusion DENSE is a reproducible technique for characterizing LV regional systolic myocardial motion on a per-segment basis in healthy volunteers.

Heart deformation analysis is able to automatically quantify regional myocardial motion in patients with cardiac amyloidosis without the need for operator interaction.

The aim of the present study was to test the hypothesis that heart deformation analysis (HDA) is able to discriminate regional myocardial motion patterns on the left ventricle (LV). Totally 21 healthy volunteers (15 men and 6 women) without documented cardiovascular diseases were recruited. Cine MRI was performed on those subjects at four-chamber, two-chamber, and short-axis views. The variations of segmental myocardial motion indices of the LV, which are measured with the HDA tool, were investigated. Regional displacement, velocity, strain and strain rate were compared between lateral wall and septal wall using t-tests. There are significant variations (CoV = 18.0% to 72.4%) of myocardial motion indices (average over 21 subjects) among 16 myocardial segments. There are significant differences (p < 0.05) between displacement, velocity, strain and strain rate measured at lateral and septal areas of the LV. In conclusion, HDA is able to present different regional LV motion patterns from multiple aspects in healthy volunteers.