MR tagging early after myocardial infarction in mice demonstrates contractile dysfunction in adjacent and remote regions

The purpose of this study was to use MR myocardial tagging to assess regional cardiac function after myocardial infarction (MI) in mice. Eight mice were imaged before and 1 day after MI. MRI included cine imaging, myocardial tagging, and contrast-enhanced imaging. Regional percent circumferential shortening (%CS) was measured from the tagged images, and the region of hyperenhancement on the contrast-enhanced images was used to determine the infarcted, adjacent, and remote zones. Ejection fraction (EF) fell from 59% +/- 6% at baseline to 32% +/- 6% after MI (P < 0.01). At baseline, %CS was 14.5% +/- 3.4%. After MI, %CS was 0.7% +/- 4.4% in the infarcted zone, 7.4% +/- 4.4% in the adjacent zone, and 11.8% +/- 4.2% in the remote zone. %CS was statistically different for all comparisons between the infarcted, adjacent, remote, and baseline groups (P < 0.01). MR tagging can detect regional differences in myocardial function post-MI in mice.