ALBERT

Description: Object    Although, there is no global consensus on their measurement, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) appears to be particularly attractive for the study of the sinuses of Valsalva (SV). The purpose of this study was to automatically evaluate the SV from cine-MRI using a standardized method. Materials and methods    An automatic method based on mathematical morphology was elaborated to segment the aortic root from cross-sectional cine-MRI, and to detect relevant points, such as the commissures, the cusps and the centre of the SV. The distances between these points allow a metric evaluation of the SV. Our method was tested on synthesized data and 41 patient data sets and radii calculations were compared with manual processing. Results    On the patient data sets, there are excellent correlation and concordance between manual and automatic measurements for images at diastole ( r  = 0.97; y = 0.97 x + 0.57; P  〈 10 −5 ; mean of differences = 0.2 mm; standard deviation of differences = 2.0 mm) and at systole ( r  = 0.96; y = 0.96 x + 1.2; P  〈 10 −5 ; mean of differences 〈 0.1 mm; standard deviation of differences = 2.4 mm). Conclusion    Our automatic method provides reliable morphometric evaluation of the SV. Measures of distances between relevant points allow a precise evaluation of each cusp of the SV. This robust evaluation can be helpful in the follow-up of patients with aortic root diseases. Content Type Journal Article Category Research Article Pages 359-370 DOI 10.1007/s10334-011-0283-6 Authors Cédric Blanchard, Le2i, UMR 5158, Site Universitaire d’Auxerre, Route des Plaines de l’Yonne, BP16, 89010 Auxerre, France Alain Lalande, Le2i, UMR 5158, Faculté de Médecine, Université de Bourgogne, 7 Bld Jeanne d’Arc, BP 87900, 21079 Dijon, France Tadeusz Sliwa, Le2i, UMR 5158, Site Universitaire d’Auxerre, Route des Plaines de l’Yonne, BP16, 89010 Auxerre, France Olivier Bouchot, Le2i, UMR 5158, Faculté de Médecine, Université de Bourgogne, 7 Bld Jeanne d’Arc, BP 87900, 21079 Dijon, France Yvon Voisin, Le2i, UMR 5158, Site Universitaire d’Auxerre, Route des Plaines de l’Yonne, BP16, 89010 Auxerre, France Journal Magnetic Resonance Materials in Physics, Biology and Medicine Online ISSN 1352-8661 Print ISSN 0968-5243 Journal Volume Volume 24 Journal Issue Volume 24, Number 6