Optimal Protocol for Contrast-enhanced Free-running 5D Whole-heart Coronary MR Angiography at 3T

• Published in: Magnetic Resonance in Medical Sciences Vol. 23; no. 2; pp. 225 - 237
• Main Authors: Takase, Shinichi, Dohi, Kaoru, Piccini, Davide, Takafuji, Masafumi, Yerly, Jérôme, Sakuma, Hajime, Komori, Yoshiaki, Stuber, Matthias, Ito, Haruno, Ichiba, Yoshito, Nakamori, Shiro, Ishida, Masaki, Bastiaansen, Jessica A.M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Japan Japanese Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine 01.01.2024; Japan Science and Technology Agency
• Subjects: Angiography; Contrast media; contrast medium; coronary Magnetic Resonance angiography; Data acquisition; Excitation; fat suppression; free-running framework; Gadolinium; gradient echo; Heart; Image contrast; Image enhancement; Image processing; Image quality; Image reconstruction; Injection; Lipids; Off resonance RF; Parameters; Regularization; Technical Note; gradient echo; fat suppression; coronary Magnetic Resonance angiography; contrast medium; free-running framework
• ISSN: 1347-3182; 1880-2206; 1880-2206
• DOI: 10.2463/mrms.tn.2022-0086

Free-running 5D whole-heart coronary MR angiography (MRA) is gaining in popularity because it reduces scanning complexity by removing the need for specific slice orientations, respiratory gating, or cardiac triggering. At 3T, a gradient echo (GRE) sequence is preferred in combination with contrast injection. However, neither the injection scheme of the gadolinium (Gd) contrast medium, the choice of the RF excitation angle, nor the dedicated image reconstruction parameters have been established for 3T GRE free-running 5D whole-heart coronary MRA. In this study, a Gd injection scheme, RF excitation angles of lipid-insensitive binominal off-resonance RF excitation (LIBRE) pulse for valid fat suppression and continuous data acquisition, and compressed-sensing reconstruction regularization parameters were optimized for contrast-enhanced free-running 5D whole-heart coronary MRA using a GRE sequence at 3T. Using this optimized protocol, contrast-enhanced free-running 5D whole-heart coronary MRA using a GRE sequence is feasible with good image quality at 3T.