Ex-Vivo Study of the Human Heart with Diffusion Tensor Imaging: Sensitivity to Cardiovascular Risk Factors

Neville D. Gai¹, Evrim Turkbey¹, David A. Bluemke¹, ²

Diffusion tensor studies of the human heart have shown differences in certain measured DTI parameters between normal and infracted myocardium or in heart failure patients. Sensitivity of DTI to cardiac disease using a graded approach has not hitherto been undertaken. In this study of the ex-vivo human heart, global diffusion tensor and tractography related measurements were correlated with the probability of cardiac disease based on the Framingham risk score. Fiber length showed marginal correlation with cardiac disease risk while FA, ADC and eigenvalues showed poor correlation.