Saturation-pulse prepared heart-rate independent inversion-recovery (SAPPHIRE) biventricular T1 mapping: inter-field strength, head-to-head comparison of diastolic, systolic and dark-blood measurements

Mashael Alfarih; João B Augusto; Kristopher D Knott; Nasri Fatih; M Praveen Kumar; Redha Boubertakh; Alun D Hughes; James C Moon; Sebastian Weingärtner; Gabriella Captur

doi:10.1186/s12880-022-00843-0

Saturation-pulse prepared heart-rate independent inversion-recovery (SAPPHIRE) biventricular T1 mapping: inter-field strength, head-to-head comparison of diastolic, systolic and dark-blood measurements

BMC Med Imaging. 2022 Jul 7;22(1):122. doi: 10.1186/s12880-022-00843-0.

Authors

Mashael Alfarih^{1

2

3}, João B Augusto^{1

2}, Kristopher D Knott², Nasri Fatih², M Praveen Kumar⁴, Redha Boubertakh⁵, Alun D Hughes^{2

6}, James C Moon^{1

2}, Sebastian Weingärtner^{7

8}, Gabriella Captur^{9

10

11

12}

Affiliations

¹ Barts Heart Center, The Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Imaging Unit, St Bartholomew's Hospital, West Smithfield, London, EC1A 7BE, UK.
² Institute of Cardiovascular Science, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK.
³ Department of Cardiac Technology, College of Applied Medial Sciences, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Department of Pharmacology, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
⁵ William Harvey Research Institute, Queen Mary University of London, Charterhouse Square, London, UK.
⁶ UCL MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing, 33 Bedford Place, London, WC1B 5JU, UK.
⁷ Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
⁸ Department of Imaging Physics, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands.
⁹ Barts Heart Center, The Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Imaging Unit, St Bartholomew's Hospital, West Smithfield, London, EC1A 7BE, UK. gabriella.captur@ucl.ac.uk.
¹⁰ Institute of Cardiovascular Science, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK. gabriella.captur@ucl.ac.uk.
¹¹ UCL MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing, 33 Bedford Place, London, WC1B 5JU, UK. gabriella.captur@ucl.ac.uk.
¹² Cardiology Department, Royal Free Hospital NHS Trust, Pond St, Hampstead, London, NW3 2QG, UK. gabriella.captur@ucl.ac.uk.

Abstract

Background: To assess the feasibility of biventricular SAPPHIRE T₁ mapping in vivo across field strengths using diastolic, systolic and dark-blood (DB) approaches.

Methods: 10 healthy volunteers underwent same-day non-contrast cardiovascular magnetic resonance at 1.5 Tesla (T) and 3 T. Left and right ventricular (LV, RV) T₁ mapping was performed in the basal, mid and apical short axis using 4-variants of SAPPHIRE: diastolic, systolic, 0th and 2nd order motion-sensitized DB and conventional modified Look-Locker inversion recovery (MOLLI).

Results: LV global myocardial T₁ times (1.5 T then 3 T results) were significantly longer by diastolic SAPPHIRE (1283 ± 11|1600 ± 17 ms) than any of the other SAPPHIRE variants: systolic (1239 ± 9|1595 ± 13 ms), 0th order DB (1241 ± 10|1596 ± 12) and 2nd order DB (1251 ± 11|1560 ± 20 ms, all p < 0.05). In the mid septum MOLLI and diastolic SAPPHIRE exhibited significant T₁ signal contamination (longer T₁) at the blood-myocardial interface not seen with the other 3 SAPPHIRE variants (all p < 0.025). Additionally, systolic, 0th order and 2nd order DB SAPPHIRE showed narrower dispersion of myocardial T₁ times across the mid septum when compared to diastolic SAPPHIRE (interquartile ranges respectively: 25 ms, 71 ms, 73 ms vs 143 ms, all p < 0.05). RV T₁ mapping was achievable using systolic, 0th and 2nd order DB SAPPHIRE but not with MOLLI or diastolic SAPPHIRE. All 4 SAPPHIRE variants showed excellent re-read reproducibility (intraclass correlation coefficients 0.953 to 0.996).

Conclusion: These small-scale preliminary healthy volunteer data suggest that DB SAPPHIRE has the potential to reduce partial volume effects at the blood-myocardial interface, and that systolic SAPPHIRE could be a feasible solution for right ventricular T₁ mapping. Further work is needed to understand the robustness of these sequences and their potential clinical utility.

Keywords: Cardiovascular magnetic resonance; MOLLI; SAPPHIRE; T1 mapping.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Aluminum Oxide*
Heart Rate
Humans
Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted* / methods
Magnetic Resonance Imaging / methods
Myocardium / pathology
Predictive Value of Tests
Reproducibility of Results

Substances

Aluminum Oxide