Evaluation of Diastolic Function with Flow Quantification Phase Contrast Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Jeremy Douglas Collins¹, Philip Anthony Hodnett¹, Timothy Anthony Scanlon¹, Amir H. Davarpanah¹, Aya Kino¹, Karin Dill¹, Sven C. Zuehlsdorff², James C. Carr¹

Cardiac magnetic resonance is the reference standard for assessment of infiltrative heart disease and systolic function. The ability to assess diastolic dysfunction would enable comprehensive assessment of cardiac function. We evaluated 36 patients and 4 volunteers with flow quantification phase contrast imaging, comparing to Doppler echocardiography. Phase contrast imaging correctly classified all patients with grade I diastolic dysfunction. Differentiating patients with grade II dysfunction from normal diastolic function was not possible, although stratification based on E wave deceleration time was promising. A dedicated acquisition to assess the E lateral annulus velocity may be useful in this regard.