TY - JOUR
T1 - Inversion prepared coronary MR angiography
T2 - Direct visualization of coronary blood flow
AU - Katoh, Marcus
AU - Spuentrup, E.
AU - Stuber, M.
AU - Buecker, A.
AU - Manning, W. J.
AU - Günther, R. W.
AU - Botnar, R. M.
PY - 2005/2/1
Y1 - 2005/2/1
N2 - Purpose: Visualization of coronary blood flow by means of a slice-selective inversion pre-pulse in concert with bright-blood coronary MRA. Materials and Methods: Coronary magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) of the right coronary artery (RCA) was performed in eight healthy adult subjects on a 1.5 Tesla MR system (Gyroscan ACS-NT, Philips Medical Systems, Best, NL) using a free-breathing navigator-gated and cardiac-triggered 3D steady-state free-precession (SSFP) sequence with radial k-space sampling. Imaging was performed with and without a slice-selective inversion pre-pulse, which was positioned along the main axis of the coronary artery but perpendicular to the imaging volume. Objective image quality parameters such as SNR, CNR, maximal visible vessel length, and vessel border definition were analyzed. Results: In contrast to conventional bright-blood 3D coronary MRA, the selective inversion pre-pulse provided a direct measure of coronary blood flow. In addition, CNR between the RCA and right ventricular blood pool was increased and the vessels had a tendency towards better delineation. Blood SNR and CNR between right coronary blood and epicardial fat were comparable in both sequences. Conclusion: The combination of a free-breathing navigator-gated and cardiac-triggered 3D SSFP sequence with a slice-selective inversion pre-pulse allows for di-rect and directional visualization of coronary blood flow with the additional benefit of improved contrast between coronary and right ventricular blood pool.
AB - Purpose: Visualization of coronary blood flow by means of a slice-selective inversion pre-pulse in concert with bright-blood coronary MRA. Materials and Methods: Coronary magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) of the right coronary artery (RCA) was performed in eight healthy adult subjects on a 1.5 Tesla MR system (Gyroscan ACS-NT, Philips Medical Systems, Best, NL) using a free-breathing navigator-gated and cardiac-triggered 3D steady-state free-precession (SSFP) sequence with radial k-space sampling. Imaging was performed with and without a slice-selective inversion pre-pulse, which was positioned along the main axis of the coronary artery but perpendicular to the imaging volume. Objective image quality parameters such as SNR, CNR, maximal visible vessel length, and vessel border definition were analyzed. Results: In contrast to conventional bright-blood 3D coronary MRA, the selective inversion pre-pulse provided a direct measure of coronary blood flow. In addition, CNR between the RCA and right ventricular blood pool was increased and the vessels had a tendency towards better delineation. Blood SNR and CNR between right coronary blood and epicardial fat were comparable in both sequences. Conclusion: The combination of a free-breathing navigator-gated and cardiac-triggered 3D SSFP sequence with a slice-selective inversion pre-pulse allows for di-rect and directional visualization of coronary blood flow with the additional benefit of improved contrast between coronary and right ventricular blood pool.
KW - Coronary MRA
KW - Coronary blood flow
KW - Radial k-space sampling
KW - Slice-selective inversion
KW - Steady-state free-precession (SSFP)
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U2 - 10.1055/s-2005-857865
DO - 10.1055/s-2005-857865
M3 - Article
C2 - 15666224
AN - SCOPUS:13944276321
SN - 1438-9029
VL - 177
SP - 173
EP - 178
JO - RoFo Fortschritte auf dem Gebiet der Rontgenstrahlen und der Bildgebenden Verfahren
JF - RoFo Fortschritte auf dem Gebiet der Rontgenstrahlen und der Bildgebenden Verfahren
IS - 2
ER -