Quantification of intracardiac blood flow in a knockout murine model of dilated cardiomyopathy using ultrasound vector Doppler imaging

Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) causes ventricular dilation and systolic dysfunction, often leading to heart failure. While echocardiography is widely used to assess DCM, conventional parameters typically detect changes only after adverse remodeling. Preliminary human studies suggest that intracardiac flow patterns could serve as early biomarkers. In this study, we used ultrafast multi-angle vector Doppler imaging to assess intraventricular flow in a Tafazzin knockout (TAZ-cKO) mouse model of DCM. Data were acquired using a Verasonics Vantage NXT system and a 28-MHz linear array transducer, employing a staggered PRF with double transmission to mitigate aliasing. Three TAZ-cKO mice and five littermate controls were imaged in the left ventricular parasternal long-axis view. Six datasets per mouse (10–12 cardiac cycles each) were collected, and velocity vector fields were computed to derive kinetic energy (KE) and vector concentration (VC) from the mid-region of the left ventricle as quantifiable parameters. Compared to controls, DCM mice showed significantly lower KE (p = 0.05) and VC (p = 0.01) during systole, consistent with the expected systolic dysfunction associated with DCM. These findings demonstrate that vector Doppler imaging can quantify cardiac dysfunction in DCM and may offer a valuable tool for early detection and monitoring in both preclinical and clinical settings.