Cardiac index after acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction measured with phase-contrast cardiac magnetic resonance imaging

Objectives Phase-contrast CMR (PC-CMR) might provide a fast and robust non-invasive determination of left ventricular function in patients after ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Methods Cine sequences in the left-ventricular (LV) short-axis and free-breathing, retrospectively gated PC-CMR were performed in 90 patients with first acute STEMI and 15 healthy volunteers. Inter- and intra-observer agreement was determined. The correlations of clinical variables (age, gender, ejection fraction, NT pro-brain natriuretic peptide [NT-proBNP] with cardiac index (CI) were calculated. Results For CI, there was a strong agreement of cine CMR with PC-CMR in healthy volunteers (r: 0.82, mean difference: -0.14 l/min/m 2 , error ± 23 %). Agreement was lower in STEMI patients (r: 0.61, mean difference: -0.17 l/min/m 2 , error ± 32 %). In STEMI patients, CI measured with PC-CMR showed lower intra-observer (1 % vs. 9 %) and similar inter-observer variability (9 % vs. 12 %) compared to cine CMR. CI was significantly correlated with age, ejection fraction and NT-proBNP values in STEMI patients. Discussion The agreement of PC-CMR and cine CMR for the determination of CI is lower in STEMI patients than in healthy volunteers. After acute STEMI, CI measured with PC-CMR decreases with age, LV ejection fraction and higher NT-proBNP. Key Points • Cine CMR and PC-CMR correlate well in healthy volunteers . • Agreement is lower in STEMI patients . • Cardiac Output should be measured with one method longitudinally . • Cardiac output decreases with age after myocardial infarction .