Comparison of cardiovascular magnetic resonance feature tracking and tagging for the assessment of left ventricular systolic strain in acute myocardial infarction

Abstract Aims To assess the feasibility of feature tracking (FT)-measured systolic strain post acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and compare strain values to those obtained with tagging. Methods Cardiovascular MRI at 1.5 T was performed in 24 patients, 2.2 days post STEMI. Global and segmental circumferential (Ecc) and longitudinal (Ell) strain were assessed using FT and tagging, and correlated with total and segmental infarct size, area at risk and myocardial salvage. Results All segments tracked satisfactorily with FT (p   0.7) apart from tagging Ell, which was poor (ICC = 0.15). FT-derived Ecc significantly correlated with total infarct size (r = 0.44, p = 0.03) and segmental infarct extent (r = 0.44, p  Conclusions FT global Ecc and Ell measurement in acute STEMI is feasible and robust. FT-derived strain is quicker to analyse, tracks myocardium better, has better interobserver variability and correlated more strongly with infarct, area at risk (oedema), myocardial salvage and infarct transmurality.