Left Ventricular Mass: Manual and Automatic Segmentation of True FISP and FLASH Cine MR Images in Dogs and Pigs

Purpose: To evaluate the accuracy of manually and automatically segmented true fast imaging with steady-state precession (FISP) and fast low-angle shot (FLASH) cine magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in the determination of left ventricular (LV) mass.

Materials And Methods: Nine dogs and five pigs underwent cine MR imaging of the entire LV from base to apex. Manual and automatic segmentation times were recorded, and LV masses determined with each were compared with each other and with the true LV mass at autopsy. Estimated mass and true mass at autopsy were compared by calculating the correlation coefficient and the mean difference between the two for each MR sequence and segmentation method.

Results: True LV mass at autopsy correlated well with masses determined with manual and automatic contours on true FISP MR images. Mean differences between true LV mass and masses determined from manual contours on true FISP and FLASH images were -0.8 g +/- 2.6 and 3.7 g +/- 6.8, respectively. When manually drawn end-diastolic contours were automatically propagated to end systole, mean differences were 2.0 g +/- 3.6 (P =.05) and 9.1 g +/- 6.5 (P <.05) for true FISP and FLASH images, respectively. For automatic contours, mean differences were 10.6 g +/- 8.5 (P <.05) and 27.7 g +/- 13.4 (P <.05) for true FISP and FLASH images, respectively. Mean automatic segmentation time was six times less than mean manual segmentation time.

Conclusion: LV mass was determined most accurately by using manual contours on true FISP images. In these animal models, fully automatic segmentation of true FISP images was performed in one-sixth of the time of manual segmentation and yielded LV masses with a mean error of approximately 5% of true LV mass.