Late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) sequences have evolved. Free-breathing motion-corrected (MOCO) LGE has potential advantages over breath-held (bh) LGE including minimal user input for the short axis (SAX) stack without breath-holds. It has previously been shown that MOCO-LGE delivers high image quality compared to bh-LGE. We sought to conduct an independent validation study to investigate real-world performance of bh-LGE versus MOCO-LGE in a high-throughput CMR center immediately after the introduction of the MOCO-LGE sequence and with elementary staff induction in its use. Four-hundred consecutive patients, referred for CMR and graded by clinical complexity, underwent CMR on either of two scanners (1.5 T, both Siemens) in a UK tertiary cardiac center. Scar imaging was by bh-LGE or MOCO-LGE (both with phase sensitive inversion recovery). Image quality, scan time, reader confidence and report reproducibility were compared between those scanned by bh-LGE versus MOCO-LGE. Readers had > 3 years CMR experience. Categorical variables were compared by χ2 or Fisher’s exact tests and continuous variables by unpaired Student’s t-test. Inter-rater agreement of LGE reports was by Cohen’s kappa. Image quality (low score = better) was better for MOCO-LGE (median, interquartile range [Q1–Q3]: 0 [0–0] vs. 2 [0–3], P < 0.0001). This persisted when just clinically complex patients were assessed (0 [0–1] vs. 2 [1–4] P < 0.0001). Readers were more confident in their MOCO-LGE rulings (P < 0.001) and reports more reproducible [bh-LGE vs. MOCO-LGE: kappa 0.76, confidence interval (CI) 0.7–0.9 vs. 0.82, CI 0.7–0.9]. MOCO-LGE significantly shortened LGE acquisition times compared to bh-LGE (for left ventricle SAX stack: 03:22 ± 01:14 vs 06:09 ± 01:47 min respectively, P < 0.0001). In a busy clinical service, immediately after its introduction and with elementary staff training, MOCO-LGE is demonstrably faster to bh-LGE, providing better images that are easier to interpret, even in the sickest of patients.

ObjectiveTo ascertain the feasibility of using shear wave velocity (SWV) in assessing the stiffness of carotid plaque by supersonic shear imaging (SSI) and explore preliminary clinical value for such evaluation.Materials and MethodsSupersonic shear imaging was performed in 142 patients with ischemic stroke, including 76 males and 66 females with mean age of 66 years (range, 45–80 years). The maximum, minimum, and mean values of SWV were measured for 129 carotid plaques. SWVs were compared between echolucent and echogenic plaques. Correlations between SWVs and serum homocysteine levels were investigated. Based on neurological symptom, the surrogate marker of vulnerable plaque (VP), binary logistic regression was performed and area under curve (AUC) of homocysteine only and homocysteine combing SWVmean was calculated respectively.ResultsEchogenic plaques (n = 51) had higher SWVs than echolucent ones (n = 78) (SWVmin 3.91 [3.24–4.17] m/s vs. 1.51 [1.04–1.94] m/s; SWVmean, 4.29 [3.98–4.57] m/s vs. 2.09 [1.69–2.41] m/s; SWVmax, 4.67 [4.33–4.86] m/s vs. 2.62 [2.32–3.31] m/s all p values < 0.01). Pearson correlation analysis showed that stiffness of plaques was negatively correlated with homocysteine level. R values for SWVmin, SWVmean, and SWVmax were −0.205, −0.213, and −0.199, respectively. Binary logistic regression analysis showed that sex (p = 0.008), low-density lipoprotein (p = 0.015), triglycerides (p = 0.011), SWVmean (p = 0.004), and hyper-homocysteinemia (p = 0.010) were significantly associated with symptomatic ischemic stroke. Receiver operating characteristic curves revealed that SWVmean combing serum homocysteine level (AUC = 0.67) presented better diagnostic value than serum homocysteine only (AUC = 0.60) for symptomatic ischemic stroke.ConclusionSupersonic shear imaging could be used to quantitatively evaluate stiffness of both echolucent and echogenic carotid plaques. More importantly, SWVs of plaques were not only correlated to serum homocysteine level, but also associated with symptomatic ischemic stroke, suggesting that SSI might be useful for understanding more about VP.

• Type 2 diabetes mellitus is accompanied with brain atrophy and cognitive dysfunction • Deep grey matter structures are essential for multiple cognitive processes • Shape analysis revealed local atrophy in the dorso-medial thalamus and caudatum in patients • Dorso-medial thalamic atrophy correlated to cognitive processing speed slowing and high HbA1c. • Shape analysis has advantages in unraveling neural substrates of diabetic cognitive deficits.