The timing for intervention in patients with significant chronic aortic regurgitation is based on adult guidelines and criteria which may not apply to children. There is limited data on the use of cardiac MRI parameters to guide surgical decision-making in paediatrics. We examined associations between MRI quantification of aortic regurgitation and left ventricular volumetric function and the need for surgical intervention.

Forty children and young adults with aortic regurgitation who had undergone cardiac MRI were divided into two groups based on aortic valve surgery (n = 20) or no surgery (n = 20). Ventricular volumetric functional parameters and aortic regurgitant volume and fraction were collected. Differences in MRI parameters between the groups were compared using unpaired t-tests. Receiver operating characteristic analysis identified MRI cut-off values with discriminatory ability towards primary end point of surgery (area under the curve > 0.7).

Patients who underwent surgery had significantly larger ventricular volumes and aortic regurgitant fraction than those without surgery. Aortic regurgitant fraction and volume had the highest discriminatory power (0.93 and 0.92, respectively) between the two groups, followed by indexed left ventricular volumes (end-diastolic volume 0.85 and end-systolic volume 0.89).

Current guidelines for surgical intervention in children with chronic aortic regurgitation are limited. Our findings suggest potential MRI-based threshold values that may aid in surgical decision-making and highlight the need future research for aortic valve surgery in children with chronic aortic regurgitation.