• Gunnar K Lund, Norbert Watzinger, Maythem Saeed, Gautham P Reddy, Ming Yang, Phillip A Araoz, Dominick Curatola, Martin Bedigian, and Charles B Higgins.
• Department of Radiology, University of California, San Francisco, 505 Parnassus Ave, Rm L-308, San Francisco, CA 94143-0628, USA.
• Radiology. 2003 Apr 1; 227 (1): 209-15.

PurposeTo quantify and compare global left ventricular (LV) perfusion and coronary flow reserve (CFR) in patients with chronic heart failure and in healthy volunteers by measuring coronary sinus flow with velocity-encoded cine (VEC) magnetic resonance (MR) imaging.Materials And MethodsMR measurements were performed in 10 consecutive patients with chronic heart failure due to coronary artery disease and in 10 volunteers. Global LV perfusion was quantified by measuring coronary sinus flow in an oblique imaging plane perpendicular to the coronary sinus with non-breath-hold VEC MR imaging. LV mass was measured by means of cine imaging that encompassed the heart. LV perfusion was calculated from coronary sinus flow and mass. CFR was measured from LV perfusion at rest and that after infusion of dipyridamole. Analysis of covariance was used to determine differences between groups. Differences within groups were analyzed by means of the Student t test for paired data. Regression analysis was used to determine correlation between CFR and LV ejection fraction.ResultsAt rest, LV perfusion was not significantly different in patients with chronic heart failure (0.46 mL/min/g +/- 0.19) and volunteers (0.52 mL/min/g +/- 0.21, P =.54). After administration of dipyridamole, LV perfusion was less than half in patients with chronic heart failure compared with that in volunteers (1.07 mL/min/g +/- 0.64 vs 2.19 mL/min/g +/- 0.98) (P =.03). CFR was severely reduced in patients with chronic heart failure compared with that in volunteers (2.3 +/- 0.9 vs 4.2 +/- 1.5, P =.01). A moderate but significant correlation was found between CFR and LV ejection fraction (r = 0.54, P =.02)ConclusionCombined cine and VEC MR imaging revealed that patients with chronic heart failure have normal LV perfusion at rest but severely depressed LV perfusion after vasodilation. Impaired CFR may contribute to progressive decline in LV function in patients with chronic heart failure.

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