Quantification of biventricular myocardial strain from magnetic resonance images of pulmonary hypertensive patients using hyperelastic warping

International audiencePulmonary hypertension (PH) is a disease resulting fromrestricted flow in the pulmonary arterial circulation. This results in anincrease in pulmonary vascular resistance. Left untreated, the diseaseleads to right ventricular (RV) failure, which is the most commoncause of death in PH patients. The quantification of RV function isimportant for clinical management of PH patients, with clinicalstudies showing that the RV function is a major determinant of thefunctional capacity and prognosis in PH patients. Recent studies havedemonstrated that the RV strain is associated with the RV function,and is a potentially useful prognostic marker in PH patients.Compared to quantifying strain in the left ventricle (LV), which canbe approximated by a truncated ellipsoid, the in vivo quantitativeassessment of the strain in the RV is challenging because of itscomplex geometry and thin wall. Here, we describe the application ofa hyperelastic warping technique for quantifying RV strain in PHpatients using regular CINE-MR images, which has the potential toovercome these challenges