Correlation of right ventricular ejection fraction and tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion in tetralogy of Fallot by magnetic resonance imaging

The correlation between right ventricular ejection fraction (RVEF) and tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) by two-dimensional (2-D) echo has been repeatedly validated, but not by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) nor in patients with congenital heart disease. We tested whether TAPSE measurements by MRI correlate with RVEF in surgically repaired tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) patients. TAPSE was measured from systolic displacement of the RV-freewall/tricuspid annular plane junction in the apical 4-chamber view in 7 normal subjects and 14 TOF patients. The RV was reconstructed in 3-D from manually traced borders on MR images to compute true EF. Because we previously observed discrepancy between TAPSE and RVEF in the presence of regional dysfunction, we also analyzed RV wall motion in terms of regional stroke volume at 20 short axis slices from apex to tricuspid annulus. RVEF was 52 ± 3% in normal subjects and 41 ± 9% in TOF ( P