Whole-heart coronary MR angiography under a single breath-hold: A comparative study with respiratory-gated acquisition using a multi-element phased-array coil

• Published in: Clinical radiology Vol. 66; no. 11; pp. 1060 - 1063
• Main Authors: Okada, T., Kanao, S., Kuhara, S., Ninomiya, A., Fujimoto, K., Kido, A., Togashi, K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier Ltd 01.11.2011; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adult; Biological and medical sciences; Cardiovascular system; Coronary Angiography - instrumentation; Coronary Angiography - methods; Female; Heart - diagnostic imaging; Heart - physiopathology; Humans; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; Investigative techniques, diagnostic techniques (general aspects); Magnetic Resonance Angiography - instrumentation; Magnetic Resonance Angiography - methods; Male; Medical sciences; Phantoms, Imaging; Radiodiagnosis. Nmr imagery. Nmr spectrometry; Radiology; Respiration; Heart; Respiratory gating; Radiodiagnosis; Medical imagery; Phased array; Circulatory system; Coronary arteriography; NMR angiography; Respiration; Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging; Comparative study; Coil
• ISSN: 0009-9260; 1365-229X; 1365-229X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.crad.2011.06.004

To compare visualization using whole-heart coronary magnetic resonance angiography (CMRA) acquired during a single breath-hold (BH) with that using conventional respiratory-gated (RG) CMRA. The CMRAs of 14 healthy subjects under either BH or RG conditions were studied using a 1.5 T system equipped with a whole-body phased-array coil and 16-channel receivers. The BH examination was accelerated using parallel imaging (PI) by factors of 2.5 and 2 in the phase and section directions, respectively. For the RG examination, a PI factor of 2 was used only in the phase direction. The visualization quality of 15 coronary segments using each condition was evaluated with a five-point scale (0–4). Differences between two conditions were compared at segments with an average score greater than 2 in RG-CMRA. The average examination time for BH and RG acquisition scans was 34 s and 11 min 31 s, respectively. Ten segments (segments 1–3, 5–9, 11, and 13) had average scores higher than 2 in RG-CMRA. Of these, BH-CMRA had significantly lower scores than RG-CMRA at six segments (segments 1, 5–8, and 11) after correction for multiple comparisons ( p < 0.005). However, in BH-CMRA, proximal segments (segments 1–2, 5–7, and 11) showed average scores over 2, indicating marginally acceptable image quality. Compared with the relatively limited degree of image degradation with RG-CMRA, the present data suggest that BH-CMRA would be useful for screening and as an adjunct to RG-CMRA that is occasionally incomplete.