Technical report. Left ventricular ejection fraction measurement using cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging in patients with post-myocardial infarction: assessment of reproducibility by a cardiovascular radiologist and a trained technologist

Background: Cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) has recently been accepted as a preferential method for evaluation left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). The LVEF analysis by CMR is usually performed by trained technologists in many institutions of Thailand.

Objective: Assess the reproducibility of LVEF measured by a cardiovascular radiologist and a trained technologist using CMR in patients with post-myocardial infarction (MI).

Methods: Twenty-one MI patients (18 men and 3 women) were recruited, where nine patients underwent CMR and left ventriculography to follow-up LVEF two times in six months. Both CMR and left ventriculography were examined within two weeks. LVEF from CMR were measured by a cardiovascular radiologist and a trained technologist and the correlation between the left ventriculography and CMR was determined.

Results: In 30 CMR studies, interobserver reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient ICC=0.94) and intraobserver reliability (ICC=0.96) was excellent. LVEF measured by left ventriculography was higher compared with that by CMR, and their correlation was moderate (ICC=0.56).

Conclusion: The LVEF measurement by a cardiovascular radiologist and a trained technologist using CMR was very reproducible, but the correlation between CMR and left ventriculography was moderate.