Figure 1

Homogeneous strain analysis of myocardial tagged images. Cardiac and respiratory gated SPAMM-tagged images were obtained at the mid-ventricular short axis from end-systole (A) to end-diastole (B) with the following parameters: FOV 20 mm, slice thickness 1 mm, echo time 1.5 ms, temporal resolution 5 ms, flip angle 30 degrees, acquisition matrix 256x256, number of excitations=4. Each tagged image was overlaid with manually traced tagged lines and intersections (C). Endo- and epicardium was contoured using the B spline method to define the direction of circumferential and radial strain at 8 different points as indicated by red dots (D). Triangulation of myocardium allowed diastolic homogeneous strain analysis and calculation of circumferential strain (Ecc) rate (E).