Ejection and filling rates assessed from cardiac magnetic resonance imaging: possible indices of Degenerative Mitral Valve Regurgitation

Background Degenerative Mitral Valve Regurgitation (DMR) is a severe form of mitral valve disease for which the survival rate is poor if left untreated. Defining the optimal timing for surgery is challenging in spite of advances in diagnostic imaging. No sensitive measure of left ventricular dysfunction from CMR have yet been reported since the ejection fraction (EF) is usually preserved in DMR patients. However, to assess LV function, standard analysis of the Cine images only focuses on two timepoints of the cardiac cycle (end-diastole and endsystole), discarding more than 80 % of the available data. Available cardiac analysis software now allows the analysis of the entire cardiac cycle in a reasonable time, leading therefore to a full LV volume curve over time. The aim of this study is to assess the sensitivity of two indices extracted from the LV volume curve: the peak ejection rate and the peak filling rate.