Myocardial strain analysis in HIV-infected patients using CMR feature tracking technique

YAN Chengxi; LI Ruili; ZHANG Li; FAN Jiayi; ZHANG Xinjun; LI Hongjun; ZHANG Yuelang

doi:10.19300/j.2025.L22042

Abstract：Objective To investigate local cardiac functional changes in individuals infected with human immunodeficiency virus(HIV)using cardiac magnetic resonance feature tracking(CMR-FT)technology.Methods A total of 47 HIV-infected patients were prospectively enrolled,including 30 asymptomatic individuals(Asymptomatic HIV group),17 patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome(AIDS group),and 21 age-matched healthy controls(HC group).Overall cardiac function was evaluated using CMR cine sequences,and myocardial strain parameters were measured with CMR-FT technology.The left ventricle was divided into 16 segments,and segmental strain reduction was defined using thresholds of global longitudinal strain(GLS)=-13.4％,global circumferential strain(GCS)=-16.8％,and global radial strain(GRS)=43.9％.The proportion of segments with reduced strain was compared across the three groups.Differences in clinical and imaging data among the three groups were compared.Differences in clinical information between the asymptomatic HIV group and the AIDS group were compared using the chi-square test or Fisher's exact test.Results For global cardiac function parameters,both the asymptomatic HIV group and the AIDS group had significantly lower left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF),right ventricular ejection fraction(RVEF),right ventricular end-systolic volume(RVESV),and right ventricular cardiac output(RVCO)compared to the HC group(all P＜0.05).However,there were no significant differences in overall cardiac function parameters between the asymptomatic HIV and AIDS groups(all P＞0.05).Regarding myocardial strain parameters,GLS,GCS,and GRS were significantly lower in both the asymptomatic HIV group and the AIDS group compared to the HC group(all P＜0.05),with no statistically significant differences between the asymptomatic HIV and AIDS groups for these parameters(all P＞0.05).In the analysis of segmental GCS,the AIDS group showed a higher proportion of segments with reduced GCS compared to the asymptomatic HIV group,while no significant differences were found in the segmental strain parameters of other types(all P＞0.05).Conclusion GCS assessed by CMR-FT technology can serve as an imaging biomarker for early cardiac function impairment following HIV infection,providing valuable information for clinical assessment.