Ventricular-vascular interaction is central in the adaptation to cardiovascular disease. However, cardiomyopathy patients are predominantly monitored using cardiac biomarkers. The aim of this study is therefore to explore aortic function in dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). Fourteen idiopathic DCM patients and 16 controls underwent cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, with aortic relative pressure derived using physics-based image processing and a virtual cohort utilized to assess the impact of cardiovascular properties on aortic behaviour. Subjects with reduced left ventricular systolic function had significantly reduced aortic relative pressure, increased aortic stiffness, and significantly delayed time-to-pressure peak duration. From the virtual cohort, aortic stiffness and aortic volumetric size were identified as key determinants of aortic relative pressure. As such, this study shows how advanced flow imaging and aortic hemodynamic evaluation could provide novel insights into the manifestation of DCM, with signs of both altered aortic structure and function derived in DCM using our proposed imaging protocol.

Biomedical Imaging Center Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile Santiago Chile

Department of Biomedical Engineering and Health Systems KTH Royal Institute of Technology Huddinge Sweden

Department of Cardiac Surgery and Biomedical Engineering University of Michigan Plymouth Rd Ann Arbor MI 48109 USA

Department of Clinical Sciences Karolinska Institutet Danderyd Sweden

Department of Mathematics Faculty of Nuclear Sciences and Physical Engineering Czech Technical University Prague Prague Czech Republic

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering University of Cyprus Nicosia Cyprus

Department of Radiology School of Medicine Pontifica Universidad Católica de Chile Santiago Chile

Department of Radiology University of Michigan Ann Arbor MI USA

Faculty of Health Science Bristol Heart Institute and Translational Biomedical Research Centre University of Bristol Bristol UK

Inria Palaiseau France

Institute for Medical Engineering and Science Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge MA USA

LMS Ecole Polytechnique CNRS Institut Polytechnique de Paris Paris France

Millennium Nucleus in Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Santiago Cardio MR Chile

School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences King's College London London UK

School of Biomedical Engineering Universidad de Valparaíso Valparaíso Chile

World Class Research Center Digital Biodesign and Personlized Healthcare Sechenov University Moscow Russia

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