Comparison of Prospective and Retrospective Gated 4D Flow Cardiac MR Image Acquisitions in the Carotid Bifurcation

Elliott R. Hurd, Mengjiao Han, Jason K. Mendes, J. Rock Hadley, Chris R. Johnson, Edward V.R. DiBella, John N. Oshinski, Lucas H. Timmins

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate the agreement of 4D flow cMRI-derived bulk flow features and fluid (blood) velocities in the carotid bifurcation using prospective and retrospective gating techniques. Methods: Prospective and retrospective ECG-gated three-dimensional (3D) cine phase-contrast cardiac MRI with three-direction velocity encoding (i.e., 4D flow cMRI) data were acquired in ten carotid bifurcations from men (n = 3) and women (n = 2) that were cardiovascular disease-free. MRI sequence parameters were held constant across all scans except temporal resolution values differed. Velocity data were extracted from the fluid domain and evaluated across the entire volume or at defined anatomic planes (common, internal, external carotid arteries). Qualitative agreement between gating techniques was performed by visualizing flow streamlines and topographical images, and statistical comparisons between gating techniques were performed across the fluid volume and defined anatomic regions. Results: Agreement in the kinematic data (e.g., bulk flow features and velocity data) were observed in the prospectively and retrospectively gated acquisitions. Voxel differences in time-averaged, peak systolic, and diastolic-averaged velocity magnitudes between gating techniques across all volunteers were 2.7%, 1.2%, and 6.4%, respectively. No significant differences in velocity magnitudes or components (vr, vθ, vz) were observed. Importantly, retrospective acquisitions captured increased retrograde flow in the internal carotid artery (i.e., carotid sinus) compared to prospective acquisitions (10.4 ± 6.3% vs. 4.6 ± 5.3%; p < 0.05). Conclusion: Prospective and retrospective ECG-gated 4D flow cMRI acquisitions provide comparable evaluations of fluid velocities, including velocity vector components, in the carotid bifurcation. However, the increased temporal coverage of retrospective acquisitions depicts increased retrograde flow patterns (i.e., disturbed flow) not captured by the prospective gating technique.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1-12
Number of pages12
JournalCardiovascular Engineering and Technology
Volume14
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 2023

Keywords

  • Biomechanics
  • Cardiac MRI
  • Hemodynamics
  • Phase contrast magnetic resonance imaging
  • Triggering
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Prospective Studies
  • Imaging, Three-Dimensional/methods
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging/methods
  • Carotid Arteries/diagnostic imaging
  • Blood Flow Velocity
  • Female
  • Retrospective Studies

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine
  • Biomedical Engineering

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Comparison of Prospective and Retrospective Gated 4D Flow Cardiac MR Image Acquisitions in the Carotid Bifurcation'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this