Céline Goffinet

Functional Anatomy of Aortic Regurgitation Accuracy, Prediction of Surgical Repairability, and Outcome Implications of Transesophageal Echocardiography

Background— For patients with aortic regurgitation (AR), aortic valve sparing or repair surgery is an attractive alternative to valve replacement. In this setting, accurate preoperative delineation of aortic valve pathology and potential repairability is of paramount importance. The aim of the present study was to assess the diagnostic value of preoperative transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) in defining the mechanisms of AR, as identified by surgical inspection, and in predicting repairability, by using the final surgical approach as reference. Methods and Results— One hundred and sixty-three consecutive patients (117 males, mean age: 58±14 years) undergoing AR surgery were included. Mechanisms of AR were categorized by TEE and surgical inspection as follows: type 1, aortic dilatation; type 2, cusp prolapse; and type 3, restrictive cusp motion or endocarditis. At surgery, mechanisms of AR were type 1 in 41 patients, type 2 in 62, and type 3 in 60. Agreement between TEE and surgical inspection was 93% (&kgr;=0.90). Valve sparing or repair was performed in 125 patients and valve replacement in 38 patients. TEE correctly predicted the final surgical approach in 108/125 (86%) patients undergoing repair and in 35/38 (93%) patients undergoing replacement. The gross anatomic classification of AR lesions by TEE was determinant of valve repairability and postoperative outcome (4-year freedom from > grade 2 AR, reoperation, or death, P=0.04). Conclusions— TEE provides a highly accurate anatomic assessment of all types of AR lesions. In addition, the functional anatomy of AR defined by TEE is strongly and independently predictive of valve repairability and postoperative outcome.

Evaluation of Anatomic Valve Opening and Leaflet Morphology in Aortic Valve Bioprosthesis by Using Multidetector CT: Comparison with Transthoracic Echocardiography

PURPOSE To prospectively determine whether cardiac-gated multidetector computed tomography (CT) allows visualization of aortic valve leaflets after bioprosthetic aortic valve replacement (AVR), to provide an accurate method for measuring the aortic valve opening, and to provide morphologic and functional information regarding the mechanism underlying poor function of the bioprosthetic valve. MATERIALS AND METHODS The institutional review board approved the study protocol; informed consent was given. Fifty-four patients (27 men; mean age, 75 years + or - 8 [standard deviation]) with bioprosthetic AVR implanted 2 years + or - 3 earlier underwent 64-section CT and transthoracic echocardiography (TTE). Two blinded observers manually planimetered the aortic valve area (AVA) by using a computer workstation on end-systolic short-axis CT images and measured opening angles (OAs) between the bioprosthesis annulus base and the free margin on long-axis images. These measurements were compared with those of the effective orifice area (EOA) of the valve at Doppler continuity-equation TTE by using regression and Bland-Altman methods. Morphology and mobility of leaflets in normally functioning (EOA indexed to body surface area [EOA(i)] > 0.65 cm(2)/m(2)) and dysfunctional (EOA(i)< 0.65 cm(2)/m(2)) AVRs were compared. RESULTS AVA at CT correlated highly to EOA at TTE (r = 0.93, P < .001) but was significantly larger (1.2 cm(2) + or - 0.4 vs 1.1 cm(2) + or - 0.3, P < .001) than EOA at TTE. In dysfunctional bioprostheses (n = 34), CT results showed a variety of morphologic abnormalities, such as leaflet thickening (n = 9), presumed thrombotic material (n = 6), and leaflet calcification (n = 1). Multidetector CT results demonstrated restriction of leaflet motion indicated by lower OA (64 degrees + or - 5 vs 79 degrees + or - 3, P < .0001) in dysfunctional AVRs than in normally functioning AVRs (n = 11). CONCLUSION Sixty-four-section CT can help accurately measure AVA in bioprosthetic AVR compared with EOA at TTE. It can also show morphologic abnormalities and reduced leaflet motion in a dysfunctional bioprosthesis, thereby potentially unraveling the mechanism of dysfunction.

Combined coronary and late-enhanced multidetector-computed tomography for delineation of the etiology of left ventricular dysfunction: comparison with coronary angiography and contrast-enhanced cardiac magnetic resonance imaging

Aims To evaluate whether comprehensive evaluation of coronary anatomy and delayed enhancement (DE) by multidetector-computed tomography (MDCT) would allow determination of etiology of left ventricular dysfunction (LVD) as compared with coronary angiography (CA) and DE-magnetic resonance (CMR). Methods and results Seventy-one consecutive patients (50 males, 59 ± 16 years) with LVD (ejection fraction: 26 ± 11%) of unknown etiology underwent MDCT, LGE (late Gd-DTPA-enhanced)-CMR and CA. Patients were classified into four groups according to coronary artery disease (CAD) by CA and LGE-CMR patterns. Patients (n = 24) with CAD and transmural or sub-endocardial DE by CMR were considered having definite ischaemic LVD (group 1). Patients (n = 36) without CAD by CA and with no/atypical LGE-CMR were considered non-ischaemic LVD (group 2). Further we identified four patients with transmural DE but no CAD (group 3) and seven patients with CAD but no DE (group 4). On per-patient basis, combined coronary and DE-MDCT had excellent agreement (κ = 0.89; P < 0.001) with CA/LGE-CMR to classify patients into the same four groups. Sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of MDCT were 97, 92 and 94%, respectively for detecting patients with definite (group 1) or likely (groups 3 and 4) ischaemic LVD. Conclusion Combined coronary and DE-MDCT can accurately differentiate ischaemic vs. non-ischaemic etiology of LVD.

Accuracy of the Flow Convergence Method for Quantification of Aortic Regurgitation in Patients With Central Versus Eccentric Jets

Proximal isovelocity surface area (PISA) has been proposed as a quantitative method to assess the severity of aortic regurgitation (AR). Yet the accuracy of this method in patients with eccentric AR jets is unknown. The aims of this study were to compare the accuracy of the PISA method for the quantification of AR severity in patients with central versus eccentric AR jets and to verify whether imaging from the left parasternal instead of the apical window improves the accuracy of the PISA method in patients with eccentric jets. Fifty patients with AR (21 with central jets and 29 with eccentric jets) underwent PISA and phase-contrast cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) measurements of AR volume. In patients with eccentric AR jets, PISA measurements obtained from the left parasternal and apical windows were compared. In patients with central AR jets, CMR- and PISA-derived AR volumes were similar (28 +/- 19 vs 30 +/- 20 ml, p = 0.34), were strongly correlated (r = 0.92, p <0.0001), and differed minimally from each other (by 2 +/- 8 ml). In patients with eccentric AR jets, PISA-derived AR volumes underestimated those measured by CMR (38 +/- 22 vs 51 +/- 27 ml, bias -13 +/- 20 ml) and were correlated only fairly (r = 0.69, p <0.001). Imaging from the left parasternal window eliminated the differences between CMR- and PISA-derived AR volumes (51 +/- 27 vs 53 +/- 26 ml, p = 0.24) and improved the correlation between the 2 measures (r = 0.95). In conclusion, in patients with eccentric AR jets imaged from the apical window, the PISA method significantly underestimated AR severity. This was no longer the case when imaging was performed from the left parasternal instead of the apical window.

Detection and quantification of myocardial scars by contrast-enhanced 3D echocardiography

Background —Myocardial infarct scars are usually imaged using delayed-enhanced cardiac magnetic resonance (DE-cMR). In this study, we tested the hypothesis that the detection and the quantification of myocardial scars can be evaluated by 3D-Echo. Methods and Results —Fifty patients with a healed myocardial infarction (>3 months) and 10 controls underwent 3D-Echo and DE-cMR within 2 weeks. 3D-Echo images were acquired using different settings, in the presence or absence of contrast. The highest contrast-to-noise ratio was obtained using second harmonic imaging (1.6/3.2 MHz), at an MI of 0.5, in the presence of contrast. Using this modality, the sensitivity and specificity for the 3D-Echo detection of cMR scars on a segmental basis were 78% and 99%, respectively. On a per patient basis, they were of 96% and 90%, respectively. Good correlation and limits of agreement were found between the assessment of scar mass by 3D-Echo and DE-cMR (r=0.93, p<0.001, bias: 1.4±3.6g), and the concordance between both techniques for the assessment of scar transmurality was good. Intraobserver, interobserver and day-to-day reproducibility was comparable between 3D-Echo and DE-cMR for both the detection and the quantification of scars. Conclusions —Contrast-enhanced 3D-Echo is a promising new tool for the detection and the quantification of myocardial infarct scars.Background—Myocardial infarct scars are usually imaged by delayed-enhanced cardiac magnetic resonance (DE-cMR). In this study, we tested the hypothesis that the detection and quantification of myocardial scars can be evaluated by 3D echocardiography (3D-echo). Methods and Results—Fifty patients with a healed myocardial infarction (>3 months) and 10 controls underwent 3D echo and DE-cMR within 2 weeks. 3D-echo images were acquired with different settings, with or without contrast. The highest contrast-to-noise ratio was obtained with second-harmonic imaging (1.6/3.2 MHz), at a mechanical index of 0.5, in the presence of contrast. Using this modality, we calculated the sensitivity and specificity of the 3D-echo detection of cMR scars on a segmental basis to be 78% and 99%, respectively. On a per-patient basis, they were 96% and 90%, respectively. Good correlation and limits of agreement were found between the assessment of scar mass by 3D echo and DE-cMR (r=0.93, P<0.001; bias, 1.4±3.6 g), and the concordance between both techniques for the assessment of scar transmurality was good. Intraobserver, interobserver, and day-to-day reproducibility was comparable between 3D echo and DE-cMR for both the detection and quantification of scars. Conclusions—Contrast-enhanced 3D echo is a promising new tool for the detection and quantification of myocardial infarct scars.

Determination of Infarct Size and Transmurality by Contrast-Enhanced 3D-Echocardiography

Background —Myocardial infarct scars are usually imaged using delayed-enhanced cardiac magnetic resonance (DE-cMR). In this study, we tested the hypothesis that the detection and the quantification of myocardial scars can be evaluated by 3D-Echo. Methods and Results —Fifty patients with a healed myocardial infarction (>3 months) and 10 controls underwent 3D-Echo and DE-cMR within 2 weeks. 3D-Echo images were acquired using different settings, in the presence or absence of contrast. The highest contrast-to-noise ratio was obtained using second harmonic imaging (1.6/3.2 MHz), at an MI of 0.5, in the presence of contrast. Using this modality, the sensitivity and specificity for the 3D-Echo detection of cMR scars on a segmental basis were 78% and 99%, respectively. On a per patient basis, they were of 96% and 90%, respectively. Good correlation and limits of agreement were found between the assessment of scar mass by 3D-Echo and DE-cMR (r=0.93, p<0.001, bias: 1.4±3.6g), and the concordance between both techniques for the assessment of scar transmurality was good. Intraobserver, interobserver and day-to-day reproducibility was comparable between 3D-Echo and DE-cMR for both the detection and the quantification of scars. Conclusions —Contrast-enhanced 3D-Echo is a promising new tool for the detection and the quantification of myocardial infarct scars.Background—Myocardial infarct scars are usually imaged by delayed-enhanced cardiac magnetic resonance (DE-cMR). In this study, we tested the hypothesis that the detection and quantification of myocardial scars can be evaluated by 3D echocardiography (3D-echo). Methods and Results—Fifty patients with a healed myocardial infarction (>3 months) and 10 controls underwent 3D echo and DE-cMR within 2 weeks. 3D-echo images were acquired with different settings, with or without contrast. The highest contrast-to-noise ratio was obtained with second-harmonic imaging (1.6/3.2 MHz), at a mechanical index of 0.5, in the presence of contrast. Using this modality, we calculated the sensitivity and specificity of the 3D-echo detection of cMR scars on a segmental basis to be 78% and 99%, respectively. On a per-patient basis, they were 96% and 90%, respectively. Good correlation and limits of agreement were found between the assessment of scar mass by 3D echo and DE-cMR (r=0.93, P<0.001; bias, 1.4±3.6 g), and the concordance between both techniques for the assessment of scar transmurality was good. Intraobserver, interobserver, and day-to-day reproducibility was comparable between 3D echo and DE-cMR for both the detection and quantification of scars. Conclusions—Contrast-enhanced 3D echo is a promising new tool for the detection and quantification of myocardial infarct scars.