Table 3. Summary of selected studies applying 4D flow MRI to the heart and vessels.
| Anatomy | Diseases | Indices | Findings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heart | Heart failure | Systolic average KE | Higher systolic average KE, different KE time curves help classify heart failure |
| Atrial fibrillation | Peak velocity; time to-peak velocity | Peak velocity is more sensitive to the changes of flow | |
| Pulmonary heart disease | LV vorticity | Damaged LV vortex formation, impaired LV vorticity | |
| Acute myocardial infarction | Regional flow | Impaired peak systolic and diastolic flow velocity | |
| Repaired TOF | Flow pattern; KE; vorticity | Altered vortical patterns; increased KE | |
| Atrial septum defect | Blood flow; shunt fraction and volume | Pulmonary and systemic blood flow associated well with each other in multiple levels | |
| Single ventricle | SPCF | SPCF could be a risk factor of increased morbidity and mortality | |
| Mitral/tricuspid valve regurgitation | Regurgitate volume; fraction | Except for a large range of severe reflux, reflux jets also exhibit an extensive range of patterns | |
| Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy | Pressure gradient; EL; vorticity | Increased LVOT peak systolic pressure gradient; EL elevated; vorticity impaired | |
| Dilated cardiomyopathy | Vorticity | Vorticity enhanced | |
| Large vessels | Bicuspid aortic valve | WSS; blood flow | Unsymmetrical elevated WSS in aortic valve; appeared eccentric flow |
| Aortic aneurysm | Flow patterns; peak WSS | Higher helix and vortex and lower peak systolic WWS appeared in the AAo | |
| Aortic coarctation | WSS; vortices | Increased WSS and vortices | |
| Aortic dissection | Stroke volume; expansion rate | Stroke volume and expansion rates are greater in the true lumen | |
| Aortic stiffness | PWV | PWV increased | |
| Marfan syndrome | WSS; helices/vortices | WSS of inner proximal DAo lower; local anomaly vortex/helix flow increased | |
| Reference geometry parameter of right atrium and cava veins | Systolic vortex | Average systolic blood flow volume and peak systolic blood flow volume in cava veins decrease with age; clockwise vortex appears in young people | |
| Pulmonary hypertension | Vortex duration | Vortex duration correlates well with mean of pulmonary artery pressure which is tested invasively | |
| Pulmonary regurgitation vs. stenosis | KE | Higher KE in pulmonary stenosis |
MRI, magnetic resonance imaging; KE, kinetic energy; PWV, pulse wave velocity; WSS, wall shear stress; EL, energy loss; SPCF, system-to-pulmonary collateral blood flow; TOF, tetralogy of Fallot; LVOT, left ventricular outflow tract; AAo, ascending aorta; CoA, aortic coarctation; LA, left atrial; LV, left ventricular.