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Welcome to the 4th Dimension
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Dear Friends and Colleagues,
As the new Vice Secretary Treasurer of the SCMR Board of Trustees, I am honored to follow in the footsteps of Karen Ordovas and many others who have previously served in this role and have contributed to making our society's progress such a remarkable success story. I very much look forward to serving in this new role and to working with the SCMR members and the CMR community.
The new year will bring many exciting new opportunities for advancing the field of CMR through scientific networking, exchange of ideas, CMR training activities, and new educational opportunities. As a scientist, I look forward to the upcoming webinars and journal clubs featuring the many CMR invitations and novel techniques - and of course the upcoming 2022 SCMR conference for which planning of the scientific and educational agenda is already well underway.
As an addition to the already rich portfolio of SCMR educational courses, I am pleased to share the news that a new SCMR 4D Flow CMR Hands-On Course will be offered on Friday, April 30, 2021 from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM Central US. The course will include sessions on 'Fundamentals of 4D flow CMR', 'Performing 4D CMR Imaging on different MRI platforms', and 'Live Cases: Hands-on experience with software solutions'. The objective is for attendees to learn how to utilize 4D Flow CMR at their home institution. This course with be co-directed by Christopher Francois and I, and we look forward to bringing a unique hands-on experience to our SCMR members and the CMR community.
Please stay tuned for further announcements regarding course data and registration.
Michael Markl, PhD, FSCMR
SCMR Vice Secretary Treasurer
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VICE PRESIDENT
Sven Plein
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SECRETARY TREASURER
Karen Ordovas
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VICE SECRETARY TREASURER
Michael Markl
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IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT
James Carr
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Jennifer Bryant
Erica Dall'Armellina
J. Paul Finn
Marianna Fontana
Marco Francone
Lars Grosse-Wortmann
Allison Hays
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Warren J. Manning, Editor JCMR
Purvi Parwani
Claudia Prieto
Amit Patel
Michael Salerno
Nicole Seiberlich
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The SCMR Committees have just begun their new term, and have welcomed 23 new appointments to Chair and Vice Chair roles and 80 new committee member appointments. Chairs and Vice Chairs serve two-year terms, and committee members serve three-year terms.
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Amyloidosis Awareness Month
by Marianna Fontana, Education Committee Chair
SCMR is recognizing Amyloidosis Awareness Month, an awareness campaign designed specifically to bring attention to amyloidosis. Amyloidosis is a term that represents a disease where an abnormal protein called amyloid is produced. Amyloid can deposit into different organs and tissues such as the heart, soft tissues, nerves, spleen, liver, kidneys and other places in the body, hindering the normal function of the specific area. Amyloidosis can have an extremely variable presentation, depending on the affected organ, but is the presence of cardiac involvement the main driver of patient’s survival.
“Cardiac amyloidosis is an increasingly recognised form of heart failure, especially in the elderly,” said SCMR board of trustees and chair of the Education Committee Professor Marianna Fontana. “CMR is an excellent way to noninvasively diagnose cardiac amyloidosis and the wide use of CMR has significantly contributed to the increase in the number of diagnosis that we have seen over the last 10 years. CMR can help differentiate cardiac amyloidosis from other potential causes of a cardiomyopathy. Through the use of CMR, we can not only assess the presence or absence of cardiac amyloidosis, but we can also measure the cardiac amyloid burden and potentially track changes in patients who are on specific treatments. A major challenge is the current lack of early diagnosis for a patient with amyloidosis. Awareness of all the amyloidosis diseases by the medical community and by the public is essential in order to turn this around.”
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The recording of the Amyloid Cased-Based Webinar is available |
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Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Patients With Cardiac Implantable Electronic Devices With Abandoned Leads
by Harold Litt, Publications Committee Member
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services approved reimbursement for MRI in patients with non-MRI-conditional pacemakers and defibrillators in 2018. However, scans in patients with abandoned permanent leads were specifically excluded, citing a lack of safety evidence. We reviewed the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania prospective registry of MRIs in patients with non-conditional devices, analyzing safety outcomes for 139 patients with 243 abandoned leads who underwent 200 MRIs (including 50 CMR and one patient with 16 MRIs). 5 had significant changes in device parameters, including decreases in lead sensing that all normalized at first device follow-up. One patient with an abandoned subcutaneous array and previous sternotomy felt substernal heating remote from the array, resulting in premature termination of the study. This is the largest published cohort with abandoned leads and we hope will result in changes to safety and reimbursement policies to allow MRI in these patients. |
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Click here to see a list of brand new SCMR members!
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NATHANIEL REICHEK
It is with profound sadness that we mourn the passing of Nathaniel Reichek MD, one of the founding fathers of the field of CMR and winner of the SCMR Gold Medal in 2017.
Read more about Dr. Reichek's career and contributions to the field.
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Those who wish to be considered should:
- Have web and/or social media experience
- Include a one page cover letter with relevant experience
- Be a member in good standing for five consecutive years (three years for Early Career candidates)
Deadline to apply is April 30, 2021
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What caught our cardiac MR eyes this month?
by Manish Motwani, Newsletter Editor
A new Twitter-based #WhyCMR journal watch 🧲
3. COVID-19 vs non-COVID-19 myocarditis - different CMR features 😷
5. 5-y retrospective U.S. Medicare analysis found CMR & CT availability both increasing 📊
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Simulation Room at Evelina
London Children's Hospital
Reduces Paediatric GA Cases
by Nabila Mughal, Communications Committee Member
Cardiac MRI permits assessment of anatomy, haemodynamics and function in children with congenital or acquired heart disease. Even with accelerated imaging techniques reducing the need for breath-holds, reduced patient motion is needed for optimum image reconstruction. This is challenging for younger children who are nervous and often may not comprehend what is expected of them.
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General anesthesia is often used for cardiac MRI in these children. Not only does this pose additional risks, costs and recovery time, but requires a specifically skilled team of professionals and a unique MRI environment.
However, the advent of a novel simulation room at the Evelina London Children’s Hospital has seen the number of general anesthesia cases for cardiac MRI led by Dr Kuberan Pushparajah considerably decrease. The simulation room, gifted by charity stakeholders allows for younger children to experience a ‘real-life’ MRI scan before their scan takes place. Equipped with breathing instructions and its own camera, children are able to watch back their scan and practice keeping still and understand their breath-holding capability, thus making the overall patient experience less daunting. |
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Grant Success – CMR T1/T2 Mapping in Fabry Cardiomyopathy
Dr. Kate Hanneman, MD MPH and co-investigators from nine international sites were awarded over $725,000 from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) for a prospective study investigating CMR T1 and T2 mapping in Fabry cardiomyopathy (Fabry cardiomyopathy: Identification of Early myocardial Structural and Tissue Abnormalities using multiparametric MRI - FIESTA-MRI). The overarching goal of the study is to identify early cardiac abnormalities in high-risk Fabry patients non-invasively using multiparametric CMR T1/T2 mapping and blood biomarkers, in order to guide treatment decisions and improve patient outcomes. The results of this study will help identify which patients might benefit from early initiation of treatment to prevent adverse outcomes in the future by using CMR and blood-biomarkers to identify those at higher risk. This project will fill knowledge gaps by improving our understanding of the pathophysiology of Fabry cardiomyopathy and informing better strategies to optimize the health of Fabry patients. |
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Contributed by Patricia Feuchter and Chris (Benny) Lawton
SCMR Technologist Sectio
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Late Gad Imaging - Choosing the Right TI Valve |
Late Gadolinium Enhancement (LGE) Imaging is an integral part of the Cardiac Imaging exam. LGE imaging helps define whether a myocardial injury is ischemic or non-ischemic. The difficult task is choosing the correct TI value. To do this, you should run a TI scout. This is acquired in a mid slice Short axis position, where the left ventricle is in a round position. The time to acquire the TI scout is 6-10 minutes after the gadolinium injection (dose of 0.1mmol/kg, or 1ml/kg bodyweight, depending on the contrast used.). The correct TI is when the myocardium is as black as the lung field. The TI scout acquires an image usually every 60-80 ms to demonstrate the myocardium. (Image A) Typically, the blood pool will be nulled before the healthy myocardium. Choose the value after the blood pool appears black, and when the myocardium is completely black. This allows for adequate suppression of the signal from the healthy myocardium. Damaged, or scarred, myocardium appears bright white against the healthy suppressed heart tissue. (Image B) The LGE images should match the Long axis and Short axis images, to allow accurate diagnosis and evaluation. |
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Online Educational Opportunities |
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April JCMR Journal Club
JCMR Journal Club
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Wednesday, April 14
11:00am -12:00pm EDT
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Journal Club Editor: Dr. Raymond Kwong
Presenting Author: Dr. Theo Pezel
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K-space Trajectories used for Rapid Cardiac MRI
Physics Just the Basics Webinar Series
The goal of this webinar is to describe k-space trajectories used for cardiac imaging. The webinar will include a brief reintroduction to k-space followed by a discussion of the 2D and 3D methods used to sample k-space, which include Cartesian, echo-planar imaging, spiral, radial, cones, and others. The advantages of non-Cartesian trajectories for rapid cardiac imaging will be described, along with practical advice on non-Cartesian imaging artifacts. Several example applications using non-Cartesian k-space trajectories for cardiac imaging will be included.
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Wednesday, April 28
11:00am -12:00pm EDT
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Speaker:
Adrienne E Campbell-Washburn, PhD
Stadtman Principal Investigator at National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health
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CMR Practice Advisory Group |
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Attention: Early Career Physicians
The CMR Practice Advisory Group, a group of experienced CMR volunteers, can be contacted with issues or questions about running your CMR program. The group will provide advice, assistance, and mentoring. If you're a physician starting and developing a Cardiovascular MRI program and/or are a physician interested in receiving CMR program advice, this is the perfect resource for you.
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A 34 year old naval officer, otherwise fit and healthy, with no known family history of cardiomyopathies, presented with chest pain (CP), poorly tolerated atrial fibrillation and progressive hypotension. An echocardiogram showed asymmetric septal hypertrophy, with preserved left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and severe left atrial enlargement.
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Webinar Hosted by GE Healthcare |
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February 24 to March 23, 2021
#WhyCMR Activity
by Purvi Parwani
Each month our social media committee correspondents update us on the latest #WhyCMR activity stats, most popular tweets or threads. Join the conversation and use the #WhyCMR in your social media posts!
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Research
Brown, et al.
Published on 18. March 2021
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Research
Winter, et al.
Published on 18. March 2021
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Research
Bannan, et al.
Published on 18. March 2021
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Research
Sun, et al.
Published on 15. March 2021
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Research
Gatterer, et al.
Published on 15. March 2021
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Research
Gao, et al.
Published on 15. March 2021
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Please use this link for a filtered PubMed list of all CMR-related manuscripts for March 2021 – more than 250 in total!
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Manish Motwani
Newsletter Editor
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