Cardiovascular morphometry with high-resolution 3D magnetic resonance: First application to left ventricle diastolic dysfunction

In this study, an image-based morphometry toolset quantifying geometric descriptors of the left ventricle, aorta and their coupling is applied to investigate whether morphological information can differentiate between subjects affected by diastolic dysfunction (patient group) and their age-matched controls (control group). The ventriculo-aortic region of 20 total participants (10 per group) were segmented from high resolution 3D magnetic resonance images, from the left ventricle to the descending aorta. Each geometry was divided into segments in correspondence of anatomical landmarks. The orientation of each segment was estimated by least-squares fitting of the respective centerline segment to a plane. Curvature and torsion of vessels' centerlines were automatically extracted, and aortic arch was characterized in terms of height and width. Tilt angle between subsequent best-fit planes in the left ventricle and ascending aorta regions, curvature and cross-sectional area in the descending aorta resulted significantly different between patient and control groups (P-values