Diffusion Tensor Imaging of Healthy and Cryo-Injured Pig Hearts

Patricia Dreessen de Gervai¹, Victor Yang, Uta Sboto-Frankenstein, Valery Kupriyanov, Lawrence Ryner

Diffusion Tensor Magnetic Resonance Imaging (DTI) was used to assess myocardial architecture in healthy and in injured excised pig hearts in which cryo-ablation was used to produce targeted infarctions. Using the lesion and penumbral region as seed points, fibers were not detectable in the infarct region, FA was reduced and ADC values increased compared to healthy excised hearts. The penumbral region contained traceable fibers although FA and ADC values were affected. This work suggests that the changes in fiber architecture, FA and ADC involve not only the infarct area but also the adjacent tissue.