Contrast-enhanced, ultrafast 3D pulmonary MR angiography in a single breath-hold: initial assessment of imaging performance.
An ultrafast three-dimensional (3D) sequence was developed, enabling the acquisition of 44 contiguous 2.0- to 2.2-mm thin sections, during intravenous application of paramagnetic contrast, in a single breath-hold. To estimate the potential clinical usefulness, images were assessed qualitatively and quantitatively with regard to visibility of main, lobar, segmental, and subsegmental pulmonary arteries. Five volunteers were examined using a 192 x 192 matrix with an imaging time of 23 seconds and five other volunteers with a 160 x 160 matrix (18 seconds). Each volunteer was imaged in apnea and during shallow respiration. The breath-held 23-second scans revealed excellent image quality and near complete visualization of central and segmental, as well as 81% of subsegmental, pulmonary arteries. Imaging time can be shortened to 18 seconds with only marginal loss in visualization performance (P < .05). Respiratory motion was found to cause significant worsening of image quality and vessel detectability. To maintain relevance in a clinical setting, imaging time can be minimized at the cost of a reduction in spatial resolution.
Steiner
P
P
Department of Radiology, University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland.
McKinnon
G C
GC
Romanowski
B
B
Goehde
S C
SC
Hany
T
T
Debatin
J F
JF
D000328:Adult; D001049:Apnea / Q000503:physiopathology; D003287:Contrast Media; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D011651:Pulmonary Artery / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D011859:Radiography; D012016:Reference Values; D012119:Respiration / Q000502:physiology; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
D003287:Contrast Media