At different stages of heart failure (HF), the cardiac and cerebral oxygen reserve exhibits varying degrees of decline due to chronic hypoxia and microvascular dysfunction caused by reduced cardiac output, leading to cognitive dysfunction. As a direct marker of microvascular function, early identification and intervention of cardiac and cerebral oxygen reserve are crucial to prevent irreversible damage to organs such as the heart and brain. However, there is currently no precise and effective method to quantify cardiac and cerebral oxygen reserve. Oxygen-sensitive magnetic resonance imaging (OS-MRI), as an emerging functional imaging technique, can dynamically monitor oxygenation changes and oxygen reserve capacity in Homo sapiens tissues. However, due to its technical complexity, its application in combined cardiac and cerebral assessment in HF patients remains underexplored.
This prospective, single-center cohort study employs OS-MRI combined with respiratory maneuvers to examine the heart and brain in HF patients at different stages. Continuous image acquisition is performed during hyperventilation to breath-holding, and myocardial oxygen reserve (MORE) and cerebral oxygen reserve (CORE) are derived using MATLAB and CVI42 post-processing software. Cognitive function is assessed using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) scale, with scores \<26 indicating mild cognitive dysfunction. Subsequently, SPSS is used to analyze the correlation between cardiac/cerebral oxygen reserve and MoCA scores, providing imaging-based evidence for early clinical detection of oxygen reserve decline in HF patients and confirming the potential link between cardiac/cerebral oxygen reserve, HF, and cognitive dysfunction.