Comparison between velocity-encoded magnetic resonance imaging and tissue Doppler imaging to assess timings of right ventricular mechanics in children with corrected Tetralogy of Fallot

Abstract

Results Good correlations were found between VE-MRI and TDI at the septum (patients r = 0.88, p < 0.001, controls r = 0.96, p < 0.001), RVFW (patients r = 0.90, p < 0.001, controls r = 0.93, p < 0.001) and RVOT (patients r = 0.92 p < 0.001, controls 0.76, p < 0.001). No significant differences between the techniques were observed at the RVFW (Table 1). VE-MRI measured slightly later timings than TDI in patients at the septum (difference 0.7%, p = 0.002) At the RVOT, VE-MRI measured slightly later timings in controls (difference 0.9%, p = 0.005). Although statistically significant, the observed differences are very small and therefore probably not clinically relevant. Conclusion VE-MRI is an accurate tool to assess timings of RV mechanics in healthy controls and in cToF patients. In the future, VE-MRI may aid in the selection of cToF patients for CRT. Comparison of timings to peak systolic velocities of the right ventricle between TDI and VE-MRI. Timings are expressed as percentage of the cardiac cycle. Abbreviations: cToF: corrected Tetralogy of Fallot, IVS: interventricular septum, RVFW: right ventricular free wall, RVOT: right ventricular outflow tract.