Cardiac index after acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction measured with phase-contrast cardiac magnetic resonance imaging

Phase-contrast CMR (PC-CMR) might provide a fast and robust non-invasive determination of left ventricular function in patients after ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Cine sequences in the left-ventricular (LV) short-axis and free-breathing, retrospectively gated PC-CMR were performed in 90 patients with first acute STEMI and 15 healthy volunteers. Inter- and intra-observer agreement was determined. The correlations of clinical variables (age, gender, ejection fraction, NT pro-brain natriuretic peptide [NT-proBNP] with cardiac index (CI) were calculated. For CI, there was a strong agreement of cine CMR with PC-CMR in healthy volunteers (r: 0.82, mean difference: -0.14 l/min/m(2), error +/- 23 %). Agreement was lower in STEMI patients (r: 0.61, mean difference: -0.17 l/min/m(2), error +/- 32 %). In STEMI patients, CI measured with PC-CMR showed lower intra-observer (1 % vs. 9 %) and similar inter-observer variability (9 % vs. 12 %) compared to cine CMR. CI was significantly correlated with age, ejection fraction and NT-proBNP values in STEMI patients. The agreement of PC-CMR and cine CMR for the determination of CI is lower in STEMI patients than in healthy volunteers. After acute STEMI, CI measured with PC-CMR decreases with age, LV ejection fraction and higher NT-proBNP. aEuro cent Cine CMR and PC-CMR correlate well in healthy volunteers. aEuro cent Agreement is lower in STEMI patients. aEuro cent Cardiac Output should be measured with one method longitudinally. aEuro cent Cardiac output decreases with age after myocardial infarction.