Optimizing MRI aortic flow quantification is crucial for accurate assessment of valvular disease severity. In this study, we sought to evaluate the accuracy of a novel method of contouring systolic aortic forward flow in comparison to standard contouring methods at various aortic levels. The study included a cohort of patients with native aortic valve (AoV) disease and a small control group referred to cardiac MRI over a 1-year period. Inclusion criteria included aortic flow quantification at aortic valve and one additional level, and no or trace mitral regurgitation (MR) documented both by the MRI AND an echocardiogram done within a year. In addition to flow quantification with standard contouring (SC), a novel Selective Systolic Contouring (SSC) method was performed at aortic valve level, contouring the area demarcated by the AoV leaflets in systole. The bias in each technique’s estimate of aortic forward flow was calculated as the mean difference between aortic forward flow and left ventricular stroke volume (LV SV). 98 patients (mean age 56, 71% male) were included: 33 with tricuspid and 65 with congenitally abnormal (bicuspid or unicuspid) AoV. All methods tended to underestimate aortic forward flow, but the bias was smallest with the SSC method (p < 0.001). Therefore, SSC yielded the lowest estimates of mitral regurgitant volume (4.8 ml) and regurgitant fraction (3.9%) (p < 0.05). SSC at AoV level better approximates LV SV in our cohort, and may provide more accurate quantitative assessment of both aortic and mitral valve function.

优化 MRI 主动脉流量量化对于准确评估瓣膜疾病的严重程度至关重要。在本研究中，我们试图评估一种新的收缩期主动脉前向血流轮廓方法与不同主动脉水平的标准轮廓方法的准确性。该研究包括一组患有自体主动脉瓣 (AoV) 疾病的患者和一个在一年内接受心脏 MRI 检查的小型对照组。纳入标准包括主动脉瓣和一个附加水平的主动脉流量量化，以及一年内进行的 MRI 和超声心动图记录的无或微量二尖瓣反流 (MR)。除了使用标准轮廓 (SC) 进行流量量化外，还在主动脉瓣水平执行了一种新颖的选择性收缩期轮廓 (SSC) 方法，对收缩期 AoV 小叶划分的区域进行轮廓绘制。每种技术对主动脉前向血流估计的偏差计算为主动脉前向血流和左心室每搏输出量 (LV SV) 之间的平均差。包括 98 名患者（平均年龄 56 岁，71% 为男性）：33 名患有三尖瓣，65 名患有先天性异常（二尖瓣或单尖瓣）AoV。所有方法都倾向于低估主动脉前向血流，但 SSC 方法的偏差最小 (p < 0.001)。因此，SSC 得出的二尖瓣反流体积 (4.8 ml) 和反流分数 (3.9%) 的最低估计值 (p < 0.05)。AoV 水平的 SSC 更接近我们队列中的 LV SV，并且可以提供主动脉瓣和二尖瓣功能的更准确的定量评估。