Computer-assisted calculation of myocardial infarct size shortens the evaluation time of contrast-enhanced cardiac MRI

BACKGROUND: Delayed enhancement magnetic resonance imaging depicts scar in the left ventricle which can be quantitatively measured. Manual segmentation and scar determination is time consuming. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a software for infarct quantification, to compare with manual scar determination, and to measure the time saved. METHODS: Delayed enhancement magnetic resonance imaging was performed in 40 patients where myocardial perfusion single photon emission computed tomography imaging showed irreversible uptake reduction suggesting a myocardial scar. After segmentation, the semi-automatic software was applied. A scar area was displayed, which could be corrected and compared with manual delineation. The different time steps were recorded with both methods. RESULTS: The software shortened the average evaluation time by 12.4 min per cardiac exam, compared with manual delineation. There was good correlation of myocardial volume, infarct volume and infarct percentage (%) between the two methods, r = 0.95, r = 0.92 and r = 0.91 respectively. CONCLUSION: A computer software for myocardial volume and infarct size determination cut the evaluation time by more than 50% compared with manual assessment, with maintained clinical accuracy