Right Ventricular Velocities Over the Entire Cardiac Cycle Measured with High Resolution Spiral Phase Velocity Mapping: Results, Reproducibility and Comparison with the Left Ventricle

Robin Simpson¹, ², Jennifer Keegan¹, ², David N. Firmin¹, ²

Right ventricular (RV) velocities are difficult to measure because of the thin, asymmetrical RV free wall. This study presents results from a phase velocity mapping sequence which uses spiral k-space trajectories and retrospective cardiac gating to allow the acquisition of images with high enough resolution to analyse the RV. Measurements are shown to be reproducible and small temporal features can be detected. Left ventricular velocities can be extracted from the same images, allowing a comparison of the velocities and their timings between the ventricles. This could be useful for pathologies involving both intra and inter ventricular dyssynchrony.