HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Personal Folders Download to citation manager Author home page(s): Robert H. Anderson Permission Requests Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Schmid, P. Articles by Anderson, R. H. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Schmid, P. Articles by Anderson, R. H. Related Collections Education Cardiac - physiology

Eur J Cardiothorac Surg 2005;27:468-472
© 2005 Elsevier Science NL

Ventricular myocardial architecture as visualised in postmortem swine hearts using magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging

^a Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University of Zurich and Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Gloriastrasse 35, CH-8092 Zurich, Switzerland
^b Clinic and Policlinic for Thorax, Heart and Vessel Surgery, University of Munster, Munster, Germany
^c Institute for Numerical Mathematics, University of Munster, Munster, Germany
^d Cardiac Unit, Institute of Child Health, University College London, London, UK

Received 26 August 2004; accepted 5 November 2004.

^* Corresponding author. Tel.: +41 1 632 45 64; fax: +41 1 632 11 93. (E-mail: peter.schmid{at}biomed.ee.ethz.ch).

Objective: The three-dimensional arrangement of the ventricular myocardial architecture remains controversial, in part because histological assessment is difficult to achieve, while anatomic dissections are, of necessity, destructive. In this study, we describe how the use of magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging has permitted us to reconstruct with precision the architecture of the ventricular myocardial fibres in the post-mortem swine heart. Methods and Results: We obtained diffusion-weighted spin-echo measurements of autopsied porcine hearts using a whole body MR system. We calculated the diffusion tensor and the corresponding eigenvectors on a voxel-by-voxel basis. This permitted us to colour code the fibres, and reconstruct them by connecting voxels in direction of the largest eigenvector. Such reconstructions show that, in the middle layer of the left ventricle, most of the fibres have a circular orientation, albit that a far from negligible component runs in a transverse direction. With increasing distance from the epicardium, the orientation of the fibres shows a continuous change in angulation with respect to an axis normal to the epicardium. Conclusion: Our data presented here supports the concept that the ventricular mass is arranged as a complex three-dimensional mesh of tangential and intruding fibres. The data offers no support for the concept of a ‘unique myocardial band’. The method has the potential to detecting deviations from this basic normal architecture, being capable of reconstructing the ventricular mass so as to assess the spatial coordinates of any single fibre strand. The technique, therefore, has major potential clinical applications in the setting of the failing or malformed heart, potentially being able to identify either systematic or regional disarray of the myocardial fibres.

Key Words: Magnetic resonance imaging • Myocardium • Structure

This article has been cited by other articles:

				D. L. Weiss, D. U.J. Keller, G. Seemann, and O. Dossel The influence of fibre orientation, extracted from different segments of the human left ventricle, on the activation and repolarization sequence: a simulation study Europace, November 1, 2007; 9(suppl_6): vi96 - vi104. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. H. Gilbert, A. P. Benson, P. Li, and A. V. Holden Regional localisation of left ventricular sheet structure: integration with current models of cardiac fibre, sheet and band structure Eur. J. Cardiothorac. Surg., August 1, 2007; 32(2): 231 - 249. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P.-S. Jouk, A. Mourad, V. Milisic, G. Michalowicz, A. Raoult, D. Caillerie, and Y. Usson Analysis of the fiber architecture of the heart by quantitative polarized light microscopy.: Accuracy, limitations and contribution to the study of the fiber architecture of the ventricles during fetal and neonatal life Eur. J. Cardiothorac. Surg., May 1, 2007; 31(5): 915 - 921. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. P. Lunkenheimer, K. Redmann, P. Westermann, K. Rothaus, C. W. Cryer, P. Niederer, and R. H. Anderson The myocardium and its fibrous matrix working in concert as a spatially netted mesh: a critical review of the purported tertiary structure of the ventricular mass Eur. J. Cardiothorac. Surg., April 1, 2006; 29(Suppl_1): S41 - S49. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. H. Anderson, S. Y. Ho, K. Redmann, D. Sanchez-Quintana, and P. P. Lunkenheimer The anatomical arrangement of the myocardial cells making up the ventricular mass Eur. J. Cardiothorac. Surg., October 1, 2005; 28(4): 517 - 525. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L. K. von Segesser Reply to Corno Eur. J. Cardiothorac. Surg., June 1, 2005; 27(6): 1128 - 1129. [Full Text] [PDF]