Coronary arteries at 3.0 T: Contrast-enhanced magnetization-prepared three-dimensional breathhold MR angiography

✍ Scribed by Xiaoming Bi; Debiao Li

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2005
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 911 KB
• Volume: 21
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1053-1807
• DOI: 10.1002/jmri.20250

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Purpose

To evaluate the efficacy of contrast‐enhanced coronary magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) at 3.0 T.

Materials and Methods

Nine healthy human volunteers were studied on a 3.0‐T whole‐body MR system. A three‐dimensional, breathhold, magnetization‐prepared, segmented, gradient‐echo sequence was used, with injection of 20 mL gadopentetate dimeglumine for each three‐dimensional slab. Imaging parameters were optimized based on computer simulations. Signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR), contrast‐to‐noise ratio (CNR), depicted coronary artery length, lumen diameter, and imaging sharpness with contrast agent were evaluated. SNR and CNR were compared to the results from a previous 1.5‐T study.

Results

A 53% increment in SNR and a 305% enhancement in CNR were measured with contrast. Vessel length and sharpness depicted were higher and the lumen diameter was lower (all P values < 0.05) in postcontrast images. Compared to previous results from 1.5‐T, the SNR, CNR, and vessel sharpness were enhanced at 3.0 T with higher spatial resolution.

Conclusion

Contrast‐enhanced, three‐dimensional, coronary MRA at 3.0 T is a promising technique for diagnosing coronary artery diseases. Patient studies are necessary to evaluate its clinical utility. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2005;21:133–139. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.