Final Activity Report Summary - T1 IN MYOCARDITIS (High-resolution T1 mapping for the assessment of acute myocarditis)
This project served to transform a novel quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique for the assessment of diseases of the heart muscle into a push-button tool for clinical applications, and to test its value in the assessment of inflammatory heart disease. The new technique called 'modified Look-Locker inversion recovery' (MOLLI) has been developed by the fellow during his previous Marie Curie Individual Fellowship at the University of Leeds, UK.
In contrast to conventional MRI methods, MOLLI provides objective values of the longitudinal relaxation time T1 of the heart with high spatial resolution. Upon return to his initial research site, the MOLLI technique was now integrated into a routine clinical MRI system using its standard graphical user interface (GUI) in co-operation with MRI physicists of the manufacturer. The accuracy of the T1 values achieved with the new implementation was tested and optimized in-vitro in gadolinium-doped gel phantoms. The normal range of T1 values in human heart muscle was assessed in 20 healthy volunteers.
There was an improvement in T1 accuracy as compared to the original version of the technique, which meant that further corrections for an influence of varying heart rate could be avoided. The technique was then applied to patients with different heart diseases including myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle caused by viral disease). T1 patterns of patients with myocarditis were different from those with myocardial infarction (heart attack) or cardiac amyloidosis (storage of pathologic proteins in the heart).
In contrast to conventional MRI methods, MOLLI provides objective values of the longitudinal relaxation time T1 of the heart with high spatial resolution. Upon return to his initial research site, the MOLLI technique was now integrated into a routine clinical MRI system using its standard graphical user interface (GUI) in co-operation with MRI physicists of the manufacturer. The accuracy of the T1 values achieved with the new implementation was tested and optimized in-vitro in gadolinium-doped gel phantoms. The normal range of T1 values in human heart muscle was assessed in 20 healthy volunteers.
There was an improvement in T1 accuracy as compared to the original version of the technique, which meant that further corrections for an influence of varying heart rate could be avoided. The technique was then applied to patients with different heart diseases including myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle caused by viral disease). T1 patterns of patients with myocarditis were different from those with myocardial infarction (heart attack) or cardiac amyloidosis (storage of pathologic proteins in the heart).