Cardiovascular System

Mission statement

We develop MR biomarkers to give new insights into metabolic, physiological and functional alterations in cardiovascular diseases. Our work aims at improving prognosis, diagnosis and therapeutic follow up. We target pathologies leading to diffuse alterations of heart and blood vessels (diabetes and obesity, heart transplantation, dilated cardiomyopathy).

Development of original methods focuses on arterial spin labeling (ASL) perfusion MRI, advanced sampling and reconstruction strategies, flow imaging, sodium MRI and proton and phosphorus spectroscopy. We propose a comprehensive and transversal characterization of the cardiovascular system scaling from isolated perfused rodent heart model to in vivo rodent models and human studies. Thus, a wide range of MR modalities is exploited to cover each scientific domain with dedicated methodology.

The team is inherently multidisciplinary with expertise in biochemistry and physics as well as in various medical disciplines: namely cardiology, radiology and vascular surgery.

Research Topics

Artificial intelligence and cardiac image segmentation

Emerging Technologies in Diabetes and Cardiometabolic Health

Experimental models of type-2 diabetes

Metabolism and microcirculation in cardiovascular pathologies

Nutrition, Lipids and Health Programming (DOHaD concept)

Preclinical and clinical perfusion MRI

Tissue Remodeling in cardiomyopathies

Vascular MRI

Publications

Pennec, Vincent Le, Frédéric Douane, Jean Luc Brun, Francine Thouveny, Thomas Martinelli, Marine Bravetti, Charles Mastier, et al. “Endovascular Management of Pelvic Congestion Syndrome: An Expert Consensus Statement from the French Society of Cardiovascular Imaging (SFICV), Interventional Radiology Federation (FRI), College of French Radiology Teachers (CERF), and French Society of Women’s Imaging (SIFEM).” Diagnostic and Interventional Imaging, April 30, 2025, S2211-5684(25)00075-0. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.diii.2025.04.004.

Caradu, Caroline, Claire Webster, Bahaa Nasr, Jonathan Sobocinski, Nicolas Louis, Benjamin Thévenin, Gilles Goyault, Yann Goueffic, Eric Ducasse, and LUMIFOLLOW collaborators. “French Multicentric Registry on LUMINOR Drug-Eluting Balloon for Superficial Femoral and Popliteal Arteries.” Journal of Vascular Surgery 81, no. 3 (March 2025): 693-703.e3. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvs.2024.10.068.

Bouachba, A., J. De Jesus Neves, E. Royer, R. Bartin, L. J. Salomon, D. Grevent, and G. Gorincour. “Artificial Intelligence, Radiomics and Fetal Ultrasound: Review of Literature and Future Perspectives.” Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology: The Official Journal of the International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology 65, no. 3 (March 2025): 281–91. https://doi.org/10.1002/uog.29172.

Barral, Pierre-Antoine, J. Ghelfi, M. Bravetti, S. Willoteaux, A. Agostini, K. Janot, G. Legendre, et al. “Appropriateness of Treatments for Postpartum and Post-Abortion Uterine Vascular Anomalies.” European Journal of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology 308 (February 26, 2025): 132–42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejogrb.2025.02.041.

Senlis, Jules, Fabien Labombarda, Julien Burel, Arthur Flouriot, Sébastien Normant, Matthieu Demeyere, Olivier Lairez, et al. “Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging in the Follow-up of Patients with Fabry Cardiomyopathy.” Diagnostic and Interventional Imaging, February 22, 2025, S2211-5684(25)00008-7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.diii.2025.02.002.

Rossillon, Alexandre, Nicolas Massad, Robin Sagnet, Raphael Soler, Marine Gaudry, Pierre-Edouard Magnan, and Michel-Alain Bartoli. “Long-Term Outcomes of Fenestrated Aortic Endovascular Repair in Patients Bearing JuxtaRenal Aneurysms.” Annals of Vascular Surgery 111 (February 2025): 250–59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avsg.2024.11.001.

Bartoli, Axel, Chiara Gnasso, Anna Palmisano, Andrea Bettinelli, Davide Vignale, and Antonio Esposito. “Myocardial Characterization on CT: Late Iodine Enhancement and Extracellular Volume.” Echocardiography (Mount Kisco, N.Y.) 42, no. 2 (February 2025): e70108. https://doi.org/10.1111/echo.70108.

Baudouard, Marc, Carine Guivier-Curien, Stanislas Rapacchi, Alexis Jacquier, and Valerie Deplano. “Aortic Displacement Reconstruction to Build a Patient-Specific Computational Model.” Multidisciplinary Biomechanics Journal 49th congress of the Société de Biomécanique, no. Cardiovascular and respiratory biomechanics (January 31, 2025). https://doi.org/10.46298/mbj.14485.

Licht, Christian, Efe Ilicak, Fernando E. Boada, Maxime Guye, Frank G. Zöllner, Lothar R. Schad, and Stanislas Rapacchi. “A Noise-Robust Post-Processing Pipeline for Accelerated Phase-Cycled 23Na Multi-Quantum Coherences MRI.” Zeitschrift Fur Medizinische Physik, January 21, 2025, S0939-3889(24)00117-X. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.zemedi.2024.12.004.

Bertho, Wilfried, Emilien Van Weydevelt, Alexandre Rossillon, Michel-Alain Bartoli, Thomas Mesnard, Jonathan Sobocinski, Aurélien Hostalrich, Xavier Chaufour, Florent Lalys, and Adrien Kaladji. “Prediction of Late Proximal Endoleak Risk after EVAR by Preoperative Estimation of Endograft/Aortic Neck Apposition Surface.” Annals of Vascular Surgery 110, no. Pt B (January 2025): 440–49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avsg.2024.09.050.

Bartoli, Axel, Alberto Colombo, Francesco Pisu, Tommaso Galliena, Chiara Gnasso, Enrico Rinaldi, Germano Melissano, Anna Palmisano, and Antonio Esposito. “Semiautomatic Volume Measure of Kidney Vascular Territories on CT Angiography to Plan Aortic Aneurysm Repair in Patients with Horseshoe Kidney.” European Radiology Experimental 8, no. 1 (December 2, 2024): 133. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41747-024-00531-4.

Yuan, Wen Lun, Martine Armand, Hugo Peyre, Catherine Sarté, Marie Aline Charles, Barbara Heude, and Jonathan Y. Bernard. “Associations between Perinatal Biomarkers of Maternal Dairy Fat Intake and Child Cognitive Development: Results from the EDEN Mother-Child Cohort.” European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, November 20, 2024, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-024-01544-3.

Castelli, Maxime, Arnaud Maurin, Axel Bartoli, Michael Dassa, Baptiste Marchi, Julie Finance, Jean-Christophe Lagier, et al. “Author Correction: Prevalence and Risk Factors for Lung Involvement on Low-Dose Chest CT (LDCT) in a Paucisymptomatic Population of 247 Patients Affected by COVID-19.” Insights into Imaging 15, no. 1 (November 8, 2024): 266. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13244-024-01847-w.

Gaborit, Bénédicte, Jean Baptiste Julla, Joris Fournel, Patricia Ancel, Astrid Soghomonian, Camille Deprade, Adèle Lasbleiz, et al. “Fully Automated Epicardial Adipose Tissue Volume Quantification with Deep Learning and Relationship with CAC Score and Micro/Macrovascular Complications in People Living with Type 2 Diabetes: The Multicenter EPIDIAB Study.” Cardiovascular Diabetology 23, no. 1 (September 3, 2024): 328. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12933-024-02411-y.

Hoesl, Michaela A. U., Lothar R. Schad, and Stanislas Rapacchi. “Erratum to ‘Volumetric 23Na Single and Triple-Quantum Imaging at 7T: 3D-CRISTINA’ [Z Med Phys 32 (2022) 199-208].” Zeitschrift Fur Medizinische Physik, September 2, 2024, S0939-3889(24)00076-X. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.zemedi.2024.07.008.

Omouri, Adel, Stanislas Rapacchi, Julie Duclos, Raphaël Niddam, Marc-Emmanuel Bellemare, and Nicolas Pirró. “3D Observation of Pelvic Organs with Dynamic MRI Segmentation: A Bridge Toward Patient-Specific Models.” International Urogynecology Journal 35, no. 7 (July 1, 2024): 1389–97. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00192-024-05817-0.

Daudé, Pierre, Thomas Troalen, Adèle L. C. Mackowiak, Emilien Royer, Davide Piccini, Jérôme Yerly, Josef Pfeuffer, et al. “Trajectory Correction Enables Free-Running Chemical Shift Encoded Imaging for Accurate Cardiac Proton-Density Fat Fraction Quantification at 3T.” Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance: Official Journal of the Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance, June 13, 2024, 101048. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jocmr.2024.101048.

Henry, J. A., I. Abdesselam, O. Deal, A. J. Lewis, J. Rayner, M. Bernard, A. Dutour, et al. “The Effect of Bariatric Surgery Type on Cardiac Reverse Remodelling.” International Journal of Obesity 48, no. 6 (June 2024): 808–14. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41366-024-01474-x.

Abou Assi, Aline, Barbara Heude, Sabine Plancoulaine, Catherine Sarté, Muriel Tafflet, Wen Lun Yuan, Marie-Aline Charles, Martine Armand, and Jonathan Y. Bernard. “Patterns of Perinatal Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Status and Associated Dietary or Candidate-Genetic Factors.” Journal of Lipid Research, May 16, 2024, 100562. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jlr.2024.100562.

Bouleti, Claire, Clement Servoz, Benjamin Alos, Ehmer Carsten, Alexis Jacquier, Julien Ternacle, Jean-François Deux, et al. “Rationale and Design of the French Cohort of Acute Myocarditis Diagnosed by Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MyocarditIRM).” Archives of Cardiovascular Diseases, May 8, 2024, S1875-2136(24)00071-8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acvd.2024.04.002.

Cadour, Farah, Adrien Cour, Jules Senlis, Stanislas Rapacchi, Hajer Chennoufi, Paul Michelin, Colin McQuade, Matthieu Demeyere, and Jean-Nicolas Dacher. “How to Use MRI in Cardiac Disease with Diastolic Dysfunction?” The British Journal of Radiology, April 4, 2024, tqae071. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjr/tqae071.

Aung, Nay, Axel Bartoli, Elisa Rauseo, Sebastien Cortaredona, Mihir M. Sanghvi, Joris Fournel, Badih Ghattas, Mohammed Y. Khanji, Steffen E. Petersen, and Alexis Jacquier. “Left Ventricular Trabeculations at Cardiac MRI: Reference Ranges and Association with Cardiovascular Risk Factors in UK Biobank.” Radiology 311, no. 1 (April 2024): e232455. https://doi.org/10.1148/radiol.232455.

Maurin, Arnaud, Alexis Jacquier, Axel Bartoli, Pierre-Antoine Barral, Fabien Vecchini, Julien Mancini, Virgile Omnes, Mariangela DeMasi, Philippe Piquet, and Marine Gaudry. “STABILISE (Stent-Assisted Balloon-Induced Intimal Disruption and Relamination in Aortic Dissection Repair) Is Associated With Good Anatomical Results on the Distal Thoracoabdominal Aorta at 2 Years.” Journal of Endovascular Therapy: An Official Journal of the International Society of Endovascular Specialists, February 20, 2024, 15266028241232924. https://doi.org/10.1177/15266028241232923.

Chopinet, Sophie, Olivier Lopez, Sophie Brustlein, Antoine Uzel, Anais Moyon, Isabelle Varlet, Laure Balasse, et al. “Comparing Different Methods for the Diagnosis of Liver Steatosis: What Are the Best Diagnostic Tools?” Diagnostics 14, no. 20 (January 2024): 2292. https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics14202292.

Daudé, Pierre, Tangi Roussel, Thomas Troalen, Patrick Viout, Diego Hernando, Maxime Guye, Frank Kober, Sylviane Confort Gouny, Monique Bernard, and Stanislas Rapacchi. “Comparative Review of Algorithms and Methods for Chemical-Shift-Encoded Quantitative Fat-Water Imaging.” Magnetic Resonance in Medicine 91, no. 2 (2024): 741–59. https://doi.org/10.1002/mrm.29860.

Bernard, Monique, and Frank Kober. “Editorial for ‘Coronary Microvascular Dysfunction and Diffuse Myocardial Fibrosis in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Using Quantitative Perfusion MRI.’” Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging 60, no. 6 (2024): 2407–8. https://doi.org/10.1002/jmri.29346.

Cadour, Farah, Joevin Sourdon, and Stanislas Rapacchi. “Editorial for ‘Biventricular Dysfunction and Ventricular Interdependence in Patients With Pulmonary Hypertension: A 3.0-T Cardiac MRI Feature Tracking Study.’” Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging 60, no. 1 (2024): 363–64. https://doi.org/10.1002/jmri.29092.

Božić-Iven, Maša, Stanislas Rapacchi, Qian Tao, Iain Pierce, George Thornton, Christian Nitsche, Thomas A. Treibel, Lothar R. Schad, and Sebastian Weingärtner. “Improved Reproducibility for Myocardial ASL: Impact of Physiological and Acquisition Parameters.” Magnetic Resonance in Medicine 91, no. 1 (2024): 118–32. https://doi.org/10.1002/mrm.29834.

Kober, Frank, Thierry Caus, Alberto Riberi, Yann Le Fur, and Monique Bernard. “Time Course of High-Energy Phosphate Depletion During Cold Storage of Human Heart Grafts Using the Celsior Solution.” Transplant International: Official Journal of the European Society for Organ Transplantation 37 (2024): 12994. https://doi.org/10.3389/ti.2024.12994.

Bernard, Monique. “Editorial for ‘Pulmonary Transit Time Derived from First-Pass Perfusion Cardiac MR Imaging: A Potential New Marker for Cardiac Involvement and Prognosis in Light-Chain Amyloidosis.’” Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging 60, no. 3 (2024): 1011–12. https://doi.org/10.1002/jmri.29136.

Brui, Ekaterina A., Zilya Badrieva, Charles-Alexis de Mayenne, Stanislas Rapacchi, Thomas Troalen, and David Bendahan. “Mitigating Slice Cross-Talk in Multi-Slice Multi-Echo Spin Echo T2 Mapping.” Magnetic Resonance in Medicine 91, no. 5 (2024): 2089–2103. https://doi.org/10.1002/mrm.29987.

Licht, Christian, Simon Reichert, Maxime Guye, Lothar R. Schad, and Stanislas Rapacchi. “Multidimensional Compressed Sensing to Advance 23Na Multi-Quantum Coherences MRI.” Magnetic Resonance in Medicine 91, no. 3 (2024): 926–41. https://doi.org/10.1002/mrm.29902.

Licht, Christian, Simon Reichert, Mark Bydder, Jascha Zapp, Shirley Corella, Maxime Guye, Frank G. Zöllner, Lothar R. Schad, and Stanislas Rapacchi. “Low-Rank Reconstruction for Simultaneous Double Half-Echo 23Na and Undersampled 23Na Multi-Quantum Coherences MRI.” Magnetic Resonance in Medicine 92, no. 4 (2024): 1440–55. https://doi.org/10.1002/mrm.30132.

Bartoli, Axel, Baptiste Muselier, Paul Habert, Alizee Porto, Florent Arregle, Pierre Antoine Barral, and Alexis Jacquier. “Intra-Pericardial Rupture of a Caseous Calcified Mass of the Mitral Annulus.” Journal of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography, October 26, 2023, S1934-5925(23)00435-5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcct.2023.09.007.

Jouenne, A., K. Hamici, I. Varlet, J. Sourdon, P. Daudé, C. Lan, F. Kober, J. F. Landrier, M. Bernard, and M. Desrois. “Relationship of Cardiac Remodeling and Perfusion Alteration with Hepatic Lipid Metabolism in a Prediabetic High Fat High Sucrose Diet Female Rat Model.” Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 682 (October 4, 2023): 207–15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbrc.2023.09.089.

Aramendía-Vidaurreta, Verónica, and Frank Kober. “Chapter 14 - Perfusion MRI in the Heart: Arterial Spin Labeling.” In Quantitative Perfusion MRI: Techniques, Applications and Practical Considerations, edited by Hai-Ling Margaret Cheng and Gustav J. Strijkers, 11:337–66. Advances in Magnetic Resonance Technology and Applications. Academic Press, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-95209-5.00008-8.

De Masi, Mariangela, Carine Guivier-Curien, Mohamed Boucekine, Pierre Antoine Barral, Laurence Bal, Virgile Omnes, Marine Gaudry, Alexis Jacquier, and Philippe Piquet and Valérie Deplano. “Thoracic Aorta Remodeling after TEVAR: Monitoring Morphological Parameters to Predict Unfavorable Evolution.” Journal of Surgery 8 (July 7, 2023): 1840. https://doi.org/10.29011/2575-9760.001840.

Kober, Frank. “Noninvasive Cardiovascular Imaging in Preclinical Research: Do We Get New Biomarkers Usable in Humans?” JACC. Basic to Translational Science 8, no. 7 (July 2023): 817–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacbts.2023.02.009.

Azogui, Ron, Alizee Porto, Maxime Castelli, Virgile Omnes, Mariangela De Masi, Michel Bartoli, Philippe Piquet, et al. “In Marfan Syndrome and Related Diseases, STABILISE Technique Should Be Used with Care: Results from a Volumetric Comparative Study of Endovascular Treatment for Aortic Dissection.” Journal of Clinical Medicine 12, no. 13 (June 29, 2023): 4378. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm12134378.

Lezoualc’h, Frank, Lina Badimon, Hana Baker, Monique Bernard, Gabor Czibik, Rudolf A de Boer, Thomas D’Humières, et al. “Diabetic Cardiomyopathy: The Need for Adjusting Experimental Models to Meet Clinical Reality.” Cardiovascular Research 119, no. 5 (May 1, 2023): 1130–45. https://doi.org/10.1093/cvr/cvac152.

Choquet, Caroline, Pierre Sicard, Juliette Vahdat, Thi Hong Minh Nguyen, Frank Kober, Isabelle Varlet, Monique Bernard, et al. “Nkx2-5 Loss of Function in the His-Purkinje System Hampers Its Maturation and Leads to Mechanical Dysfunction.” Journal of Cardiovascular Development and Disease 10, no. 5 (May 2023): 194. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcdd10050194.

Ogier, Augustin C., Stanislas Rapacchi, and Marc-Emmanuel Bellemare. “Four-Dimensional Reconstruction and Characterization of Bladder Deformations.” Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine 237 (April 29, 2023): 107569. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmpb.2023.107569.

Debbi, Kawtar, Paul Habert, Anaïs Grob, Anderson Loundou, Pascale Siles, Axel Bartoli, and Alexis Jacquier. “Radiomics Model to Classify Mammary Masses Using Breast DCE-MRI Compared to the BI-RADS Classification Performance.” Insights into Imaging 14, no. 1 (April 13, 2023): 64. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13244-023-01404-x.

Porto, Alizée, Virgile Omnes, Michel A. Bartoli, Ron Azogui, Noémie Resseguier, Mariangela De Masi, Laurence Bal, et al. “Reintervention of Residual Aortic Dissection after Type A Aortic Repair: Results of a Prospective Follow-Up at 5 Years.” Journal of Clinical Medicine 12, no. 6 (March 18, 2023): 2363. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm12062363.

Boyer, Jérémy, Axel Bartoli, Pierre Deharo, Antoine Vaillier, Jérôme Ferrara, Pierre-Antoine Barral, Nicolas Jaussaud, et al. “Feasibility of Non-Invasive Coronary Artery Disease Screening with Coronary CT Angiography before Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation.” Journal of Clinical Medicine 12, no. 6 (March 15, 2023): 2285. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm12062285.

Arega, Tewodros Weldebirhan, Stéphanie Bricq, François Legrand, Alexis Jacquier, Alain Lalande, and Fabrice Meriaudeau. “Automatic Uncertainty-Based Quality Controlled T1 Mapping and ECV Analysis from Native and Post-Contrast Cardiac T1 Mapping Images Using Bayesian Vision Transformer.” Medical Image Analysis 86 (February 15, 2023): 102773. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.media.2023.102773.

Cadour, Farah, Morgane Quemeneur, Loic Biere, Erwan Donal, Zakarya Bentatou, Jean-Christophe Eicher, François Roubille, et al. “Prognostic Value of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance T1 Mapping and Extracellular Volume Fraction in Nonischemic Dilated Cardiomyopathy.” Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance: Official Journal of the Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance 25, no. 1 (February 6, 2023): 7. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12968-023-00919-y.

Garcia Hernandez, Armando, Pierre Fau, Julien Wojak, Hugues Mailleux, Mohamed Benkreira, Stanislas Rapacchi, and Mouloud Adel. “Synthetic Computed Tomography Generation for Abdominal Adaptive Radiotherapy Using Low-Field Magnetic Resonance Imaging.” Physics and Imaging in Radiation Oncology 25 (January 2023): 100425. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.phro.2023.100425.

Henry, J. A., I. Abdesselam, O. Deal, A. J. Lewis, J. Rayner, M. Bernard, A. Dutour, et al. “Changes in Epicardial and Visceral Adipose Tissue Depots Following Bariatric Surgery and Their Effect on Cardiac Geometry.” Frontiers in Endocrinology 14 (2023): 1092777. https://doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2023.1092777.

Soghomonian, Astrid, Anne Dutour, Nadjia Kachenoura, Franck Thuny, Adele Lasbleiz, Patricia Ancel, Robin Cristofari, et al. “Is Increased Myocardial Triglyceride Content Associated with Early Changes in Left Ventricular Function? A 1H-MRS and MRI Strain Study.” Frontiers in Endocrinology 14 (2023): 1181452. https://doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2023.1181452.