12 Aug 21. Featured Paper

Integrated cardiopulmonary MRI assessment of pulmonary hypertension

Link to paper on Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Authors

Laura C. Saunders, Paul J. C. Hughes, Samer Alabed, David J. Capener, Helen Marshall, Jens Vogel-Claussen, Edwin J. R. van Beek, David G. Kiely, Andrew J. Swift, Jim M. Wild

Abstract

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a heterogeneous condition that can affect the lung parenchyma, pulmonary vasculature, & cardiac chambers.

Accurate diagnosis often requires multiple complex assessments of the cardiac & pulmonary systems.

MRI is able to comprehensively assess cardiac structure & function, as well as lung parenchymal, pulmonary vascular, & functional lung changes.

Therefore, MRI has the potential to provide an integrated functional & structural assessment of the cardiopulmonary system in a single exam.

Cardiac MRI is used in the assessment of PH in most large PH centers, whereas lung MRI is an emerging technique in patients with PH.

This article reviews the current literature on cardiopulmonary MRI in PH, including cine MRI, black-blood imaging, late gadolinium enhancement, T1 mapping, myocardial strain analysis, contrast-enhanced perfusion imaging & contrast-enhanced MR angiography, & hyperpolarized gas functional lung imaging.

This article also highlights recent developments in this field & areas of interest for future research including cardiac MRI-based diagnostic models, machine learning in cardiac MRI, oxygen-enhanced 1H imaging, contrast-free 1H perfusion & ventilation imaging, contrast-free angiography & UTE imaging.

Keywords

• Cardiac
• Cardiopulmonary
• Lung
• Pulmonary
• Pulmonary hypertension