Utility of single-shot compressed sensing cardiac magnetic resonance cine imaging for assessment of biventricular function in free-breathing and arrhythmic pediatric patients

Background: This study aimed to explore the feasibility and accuracy of single-shot compressed-sensing (CS) cardiac magnetic resonance cine technology for the assessment of biventricular function and morphology in free-breathing (FB) pediatrics, especially those with arrhythmia.

Methods: Seventy consecutive pediatric participants (6.27 ± 3.8 years, range:0.5-14 years) were enrolled between August 2019 and July 2020. Single-shot CS and conventional balanced steady-state free-precession (bSSFP) cine were obtained. The total scanning time, image quality and biventricular function parameters were compared for both sequences.

Results: Single-shot CS cine had shorter acquisition time compared with the conventional bSSFP cine (all P < 0.001). The single-shot CS cine also had fewer artifacts than conventional bSSFP cine (breath-hold (BH): 4.6 ± 0.6 vs. 4.3 ± 0.6; FB without ongoing arrhythmia: 4.5 ± 0.6 vs. 3.6 ± 0.9; FB with ongoing arrhythmia: 4.7 ± 0.5 vs. 2.6 ± 1.1; all P < 0.05). No statistical difference of left ventricular parameters and right ventricular end-systolic volume/ejection fraction were found between the single-shot CS and conventional bSSFP cine in both BH and FB without ongoing arrhythmia group. There was an excellent correlation (R² = 0.60-0.98, all P < 0.001) and good intra-(range: R² = 0.57-0.99, P < 0.001)/inter-observer agreements (range: R² = 0.76-1, P < 0.001) for single-shot CS cine images in terms of biventricular function parameters.

Conclusions: The single-shot CS cine can significantly reduce the image acquisition time, offering reliable quantification of biventricular function in free breathing condition for arrhythmic patients.