Comparison of cardiac stroke volume measurement determined using stereological analysis of breath-hold cine MRI and phase contrast velocity mapping

Cine MRI of the heart using segmented ii-space pulse sequences permits multiphase images to be acquired in a single breath-hold. Whilst image quality is improved compared with conventional (non-segmented) cine imaging, subsequent analysis can be relatively time consuming. In this study, multiple slice breath-hold cine imaging of the heart was performed in 11 normal volunteers. Left and right ventricular stroke volume (SV) was estimated from the images by application of the Cavalieri method of modern design stereology in combination with point counting. The measured SVs were compared with those obtained by cine phase contrast velocity mapping in the ascending aorta and main pulmonary artery. Excellent agreement was found between the SVs determined by the two techniques, with mean differences (+/- one SD) of 0.41 +/- 3.00 ml and 0.41 +/- 4.78 ml for left and right ventricles, respectively. Comparison of left and right ventricular SV using stereology yielded a mean difference of 0.84 +/- 5.70 ml. Breath-hold data acquisition together with stereological analysis is demonstrated to be an accurate and unbiased technique for the rapid assessment of cardiac function.