Evaluation of aortic regurgitation with cine-MRI: automatic contour recognition and comparative study with other explorations

Turbulence and high blood velocity produce a signal loss in Cine-MRI. An automatic calculation of the regurgitant signal loss area is developed and results are correlated with the reference scores of severity, supplied by echography and angiography. This algorithm gives the maximal signal loss area. This absolute area leads to better correlations than the mean or the relative (to left ventricle) areas. Correlation between reference grades and grades obtained through visual observation of Cine-MRI is excellent (r=0.87, p<10/sup -5/), but correlation between reference grades and processed Cine-MRI areas is even better (r=0.92, p<10/sup -5/). An analysis of variance confirms a biunique relation between signal loss areas, and reference grades of severity: no doubt that Cine-MRI should avoid invasive methods to diagnose Aortic Regurgitation, and allow a precise quantification.