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Publications

Journal Article Ahead of print

PubMed: 42141274 DOI: 10.1007/s10554-026-03730-9

Impact of formalin fixation on biventricular parameters in cardiac diffusion tensor imaging: A pilot study in a miniature swine model.

Int J Cardiovasc Imaging

Authors: Leyi Zhu, Jing Xu, Chen Cui, Peng Sun, Xinyang Wu, Xuejing Duan, Huaying Zhang, Tingting Zheng, Mengdi Jiang, Di Zhou, Wenjing Yang, Yining Wang, Gang Yin, Wenli Zhou, Xinqiao Lian, Arlene Sirajuddin, Andrew E Arai, Qiang Zhang, Li Li, Shihua Zhao, Minjie Lu

Affiliations

  • Department of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Fuwai Hospital, National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
  • Clinical & Technical Support, Philips Healthcare, Beijing, China.
  • Clinical Service Team, Investment Co. Ltd, Philips, Shanghai, China.
  • Department of Pathology, Fuwai Hospital, National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
  • Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Imaging (Cultivation), Chinese Academy of Medical Science, Beijing, China.
  • Department of Health and Human Services, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md, USA.
  • Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Radiology, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
  • Oxford Centre for Clinical Magnetic Resonance Research, John Radcliffe Hospital, National Institute for Health Research Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, Oxford British Heart Foundation Centre of Research Excellence, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
  • Department of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Fuwai Hospital, National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
  • Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Imaging (Cultivation), Chinese Academy of Medical Science, Beijing, China.
  • Department of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Fuwai Hospital, No.167, Beilishi Road, Xicheng District, Beijing, 100037, China.

Abstract

Purpose To examine the impact of formalin fixation on biventricular cardiac diffusion tensor imaging (cDTI) parameters in a miniature swine model, using histological findings as the reference standard. Methods High-resolution ex-vivo cDTI data of one healthy miniature swine were acquired at baseline and on days 5 and 9 after formalin fixation. Histology with hematoxylin and eosin staining was employed to assess helix angle (HA) and HA transmurality on day 10 following fixation. In total, 64 myocardial segments, including 48 left ventricular (LV) and 16 right ventricular (RV) segments, were analyzed in head-to-head comparison. Results For this heart, subepicardial HA became more negative after formalin fixation on cDTI, and subendocardial HA showed a positive increase, which led to a significant elevation in HA transmurality (all P < .05). Mean diffusivity decreased in LV and RV walls during the first 5 days of fixation (P < .05 and P < .01, respectively), with a further marked decrease in the LV wall over the next 4 days (P < .001) but no significant change in the RV wall. HAs derived from cDTI at baseline and on days 5 and 9 following fixation exhibited excellent consistencies in the LV wall and poor-to-good consistencies in the RV wall with those assessed with histology, among which baseline HA yielded the highest interclass correlation coefficient of 0.968 in the LV wall and 0.812 in the RV wall. Conclusion In this pilot study, formalin fixation had an impact on both cardiomyocyte orientations and diffusion properties derived from cDTI.

MeSH

Pilot Projects, Pilots, Diffusion Tensor Imaging