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The International Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging

Published in:

01-12-2014 | Original Paper

Accelerated analysis of three-dimensional blood flow of the thoracic aorta in stroke patients

Authors: Thomas Wehrum, Miriam Kams, Laure Schroeder, Johann Drexl, Anja Hennemuth, Andreas Harloff

Published in: The International Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging | Issue 8/2014

Abstract

To test if new software accelerates analysis of in vivo acquired 4D flow MRI data. Respiration-gated and ECG-synchronized 4D flow MRI of the aorta was performed in 20 stroke patients using a routine 3-Tesla MRI system (TIMTRIO, Siemens, Germany). 3D blood flow data was processed by one experienced observer using new (A = MEVISFlow) and widely-used software (B = EnSight + Velomap-/FlowTool). Evaluation included: inter-/intra-observer variability of software A and inter-software comparison regarding (1) blood flow quantification (total-/peak flow) and (2) flow visualisation, plus (3) measurement of the time required for visualization and quantification of data (software A&B). (1) Inter-/intra-observer agreement of software A (mean difference ≤5.2 and ≤0.9 %, respectively) and inter-software agreement (mean difference ≤ 2.2 %) was high with high correlation of peak and total blood flow (r ≥ 0.74; p < 0.001 and r ≥ 0.91; p < 0.001). (2) Comparison of blood flow visualization showed substantial agreement (κ ≥ 0.68). (3) Data-analysis was three times faster when using software A [18:10 (±1:29) vs. 58:30 (±5:28) min; p < 0.0001]. Acceleration of blood flow quantification and visualisation using new software strongly facilitates future applications of 4D flow MRI and thus enables its usage in larger patient cohorts in clinical research and routine.

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Title: Accelerated analysis of three-dimensional blood flow of the thoracic aorta in stroke patients
Authors: Thomas Wehrum
Miriam Kams
Laure Schroeder
Johann Drexl
Anja Hennemuth
Andreas Harloff
Publication date: 01-12-2014
Publisher: Springer Netherlands
Published in: The International Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging / Issue 8/2014
Print ISSN: 1569-5794
Electronic ISSN: 1875-8312
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10554-014-0511-z

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