Quantitative Evaluation of Left Ventricular Wall Motion in Patient with Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting Using Magnetic Resonance Tagging Technique

Left ventricular wall motions during systole were investigated from a mechanical perspective by using a magnetic resonance tagging technique. Subjects were 7 patients with coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). First, by analyzing strain in the left ventricular wall, cardiac contractility was evaluated in the patients with CABG. Next, by calculating displacement in the myocardial wall, paradoxical movements following CABG were quantitatively evaluated. Strain analysis showed local decreases in circumferential strain in 4 of 7 subjects. The results of displacement analysis clarified that following CABG, the degree of radial displacement was small in the septal wall and large in the lateral wall, and circumferential displacement towards the septal wall occurred in the anterior and posterior walls. Since this behavior was seen in both reduced and normal cardiac contractility groups, paradoxical movements in the present patients were not caused by reduced cardiac contractility, but rather by rigid-body motion of the entire heart.