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Left ventricular torsion and longitudinal shortening: two fundamental components of myocardial mechanics assessed by tagged cine-MRI in normal subjects

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Abstract

Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (Cardiac MRI) has become a gold standard diagnostic technique for the assessment of cardiac mechanics, allowing the non-invasive calculation of left ventricular long axis longitudinal shortening (LVLS) and absolute myocardial torsion (AMT) between basal and apical left ventricular slices, a movement directly related to the helicoidal anatomic disposition of the myocardial fibers. The aim of this study is to determine AMT and LVLS behaviour and normal values from a group of healthy subjects. A group of 21 healthy volunteers (15 males) (age: 23–55 y.o., mean: 30.7 ± 7.5) were prospectively included in an observational study by Cardiac MRI. Left ventricular rotation (degrees) was calculated by custom-made software (Harmonic Phase Flow) in consecutive LV short axis planes tagged cine-MRI sequences. AMT was determined from the difference between basal and apical planes LV rotations. LVLS (%) was determined from the LV longitudinal and horizontal axis cine-MRI images. All the 21 cases studied were interpretable, although in three cases the value of the LV apical rotation could not be determined. The mean rotation of the basal and apical planes at end-systole were −3.71° ± 0.84° and 6.73° ± 1.69° (n:18) respectively, resulting in a LV mean AMT of 10.48° ± 1.63° (n:18). End-systolic mean LVLS was 19.07 ± 2.71%. Cardiac MRI allows for the calculation of AMT and LVLS, fundamental functional components of the ventricular twist mechanics conditioned, in turn, by the anatomical helical layout of the myocardial fibers. These values provide complementary information about systolic ventricular function in relation to the traditional parameters used in daily practice.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Elena Ferré, Ana Belén Cabanillas and David Bordalas, radiology technicians at Clínica Creu Blanca, for their assistance in performing cardiac MRI studies. We also thank Dr Ignasi Gich for his contribution to the statistical data analysis. This study was funded by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, with the research projects of the Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria (FIS) numbers 04/2663, 07/0454, 07/1188 and by the Spanish government projects TIN2009-13618, CONSOLIDERINGENIO 2010 (CSD2007-00018). The third author has been supported by The Ramon y Cajal Program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cardiac Imaging Unit, Cardiology Department, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, c/Sant Antoni Mª Claret, 167, 08025, Barcelona, Spain

    Francesc Carreras, Sandra Pujadas, Chi Hion Li, Ruben Leta & Guillem Pons-Llado

  2. Computer Vision Center, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain

    Jaume Garcia-Barnes & Debora Gil

  3. Cardiology Unit, Hospital Alvarez Buylla, Mieres (Asturias), Spain

    Ramon Suarez-Arias

  4. Radiology Department, Clínica Creu Blanca, Barcelona, Spain

    Xavier Alomar

  5. Chair in Cardiology, Universitat de Lleida, Lleida, Spain

    Manel Ballester

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  1. Francesc Carreras
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Correspondence to Francesc Carreras.

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Carreras, F., Garcia-Barnes, J., Gil, D. et al. Left ventricular torsion and longitudinal shortening: two fundamental components of myocardial mechanics assessed by tagged cine-MRI in normal subjects. Int J Cardiovasc Imaging 28, 273–284 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10554-011-9813-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10554-011-9813-6

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