Oxygenation-sensitive cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (OS-CMR) uses the inherent paramagnetic properties of deoxyhemoglobin as an endogenous source of MR contrast1,2,3. Used in combination with standardized vasoactive breathing maneuvers (hyperventilation and apnea) as a potent non-pharmacologic vasomotor stimulus, OS-CMR can monitor changes in myocardial oxygenation as a marker for vascular function, thereby circumventing the need for any extrinsic, intravenous contrast or pharmacologic stress agents 4,5,6.
Breathing maneuvers, including breath-holds and hyperventilation, are highly effective vasoactive measures to alter vasomotion and, because of their safety and simplicity, are ideal for controlled endothelial-dependent vasomotion as part of a diagnostic procedure. Studies have shown an added effectiveness when combining hyperventilation with a subsequent breath-hold4,7, as during such a protocol, the vasoconstriction (through the associated decrease of blood carbon dioxide) is followed by vasodilation (increase of blood carbon dioxide); thus, a healthy vascular system transitions through the entire range from vasoconstriction to vasodilation with a strong increase in myocardial blood flow, which in turn increases myocardial oxygenation and, thus, the observable signal intensity in OS-CMR images. The use of cine images for the acquisition also allows for cardiac phase-resolved results with a better signal-to-noise ratio when compared to adenosine infusion8.
Breathing maneuvers can replace pharmacological stress agents for inducing vasoactive changes that can be used for assessing coronary vascular function. This not only reduces patient risk, logistical efforts, and associated costs but also helps in providing results that are clinically more meaningful. Pharmacologic stress agents such as adenosine trigger an endothelium-dependent response and, thus, reflect endothelial function itself. Such specific assessment of endothelial function so far was only possible by an intracoronary administration of acetylcholine as an endothelial-dependent vasodilator. This procedure, however, is highly invasive2,9 and, therefore, rarely performed.
Lacking access to direct biomarkers, several diagnostic techniques have used surrogate markers such as tissue uptake of an exogenous contrast agent. They are limited by the need for one or two intravenous access lines, contraindications such as severe kidney disease or atrioventricular block, and the need for the physical presence of staff with training in managing potentially severe side effects10,11. The most significant limitation of current imaging of coronary function, however, remains that myocardial perfusion as a surrogate marker does not reflect myocardial tissue oxygenation as the most important downstream consequence of vascular dysfunction2.
OS-CMR with vasoactive breathing maneuvers has been utilized to evaluate vascular function in numerous scenarios, including healthy individuals, macrovascular disease in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), as well as microvascular dysfunction in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), ischemia with no obstructive coronary artery stenosis (INOCA), after heart transplantation, and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF)4,7,12,13,14,15,16. In a CAD population, the protocol for the breathing-induced myocardial oxygenation reserve (B-MORE) as derived from OS-CMR was proven to be safe, feasible, and sensitive in identifying an impaired oxygenation response in myocardial territories perfused by a coronary artery with a significant stenosis13.
In microvascular dysfunction, OS-CMR demonstrated a delayed myocardial oxygenation response in patients with obstructive sleep apnea, and a blunted B-MORE was found in patients with HFpEF and following heart transplantation12,14,16. In women with INOCA, the breathing maneuver led to an abnormally heterogeneous myocardial oxygenation response, highlighting the advantage of the high spatial resolution of OS-CMR15. This paper reviews the rationale and methodology for performing OS-CMR with vasoactive breathing maneuvers and discusses its clinical utility in the assessment of vascular pathophysiology in patient populations with microvascular dysfunction, specifically as they relate to endothelial dysfunction.
The physiological context of breathing-enhanced oxygenation-sensitive MRI
Under normal physiologic conditions, an increase in oxygen demand is matched by an equivalent increase in oxygen supply through increased blood flow, resulting in no change in local deoxyhemoglobin concentration. In contrast, induced vasodilation leads to "excess" inflow of oxygenated blood without a change in oxygen demand. Consequently, more of the tissue hemoglobin is oxygenated, and thus, there is less deoxyhemoglobin, leading to a relative increase in OS-CMR signal intensity4,17. If vascular function is compromised, it cannot properly respond to an altered metabolic demand or stimulus to augment myocardial blood flow.
In the setting of a stimulus to elicit vasomotion, such as paced hyperventilation eliciting vasoconstriction or a long breath-hold eliciting carbon dioxide-mediated vasodilation, impaired vasomotor activity would result in a relative increase in local deoxyhemoglobin concentration compared with other regions, and, subsequently, a reduced change in OS-CMR signal intensity. In the setting of inducible ischemia, impaired vascular function would result in increased local demand not met by a local increase in myocardial blood flow even in the absence of epicardial coronary artery stenosis. In OS-CMR images, the net local increase in deoxyhemoglobin concentration leads to a decrease in local signal intensity2,18,19,20.
Attenuated vascular smooth muscle relaxation in response to endothelium-dependent and -independent vasodilators (including adenosine) has been demonstrated in patients with coronary microvascular dysfunction21,22,23,24,25,26,27. Endothelial-independent dysfunction is thought to be due to structural abnormalities from microvascular hypertrophy or surrounding myocardial pathology. In contrast, endothelial dysfunction results in both inadequate vasoconstriction and impaired (endothelium-dependent) vasorelaxation, typically caused by a loss of nitric oxide bioactivity in the vessel wall21,28. Endothelial dysfunction has been implicated in the pathogenesis of a number of cardiovascular diseases, including hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, diabetes, CAD, obstructive sleep apnea, INOCA, and HF23,24,28,29,30,31,32. In fact, endothelial dysfunction is the earliest manifestation of coronary atherosclerosis33. The imaging of endothelial function has very strong potential, given its role as a significant predictor of adverse cardiovascular events and long-term outcomes, with profound prognostic implications in cardiovascular disease states23,29,30,31,34,35.
In contrast to perfusion imaging, the breathing-induced myocardial oxygenation reserve (B-MORE), defined as the relative increase in myocardial oxygenation during a post-hyperventilation breath-hold allows for visualizing the consequences of such a vasoactive trigger on global or regional oxygenation itself2,36. As an accurate downstream marker of vascular function, B-MORE can, therefore, not only identify vascular dysfunction but also actual inducible ischemia, indicating a more severe local perfusion or oxygenation problem18,19,37. This is achieved through the ability of OS-CMR to visualize the relative decrease in deoxygenated hemoglobin, which is abundant in the capillary system of the myocardium, which itself represents a significant proportion of myocardial tissue24.
OS-CMR sequence
The magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sequence used for OS-CMR imaging is a prospectively gated, modified, balanced, steady-state, free precession (bSSFP) sequence acquired in two short-axis slices. This bSSFP sequence is a standard clinical sequence available (and modifiable) on all MRI scanners that perform cardiac MRI, making this technique vendor-agnostic and easily implemented. In a regular bSSFP cine sequence, echo time, repetition time, and flip angle are modified to sensitize the resulting signal intensity to the BOLD effect and, thus, create an oxygenation-sensitive sequence. This approach, a T2-prepared bSSFP readout, has previously been shown to be suitable for acquiring oxygenation-sensitive images with a higher signal-to-noise ratio, higher image quality, and faster scan times when compared to previous gradient echo techniques used for BOLD imaging38. Performing breathing-enhanced OS-CMR with this approach can be applied with very few, mild side effects (Table 1). Of note, more than 90% of participants complete this protocol with sufficiently long breath-hold times4,12,13,16.