title: A practical approach to MRI of coronary artery bypass graft patency and flow.
abstract: Direct visualization of coronary artery bypass grafts can be obtained non-invasively by magnetic resonance imaging. Several studies demonstrated a high sensitivity and somewhat lower specificity for detection of vein-graft patency, using the conventional spin-echo and gradient-echo techniques. In addition, the true functional status can be assessed by determining the flowrate within the graft using phase velocity mapping. Important limitations of the previously applied techniques include the inability to accurately evaluate the different segments of jump grafts and the presence of graft stenoses. Further improvement is to be expected from the recent introduction of breath-hold imaging sequences and the forthcoming introduction of bloodpool-avid contrast agents.
authors.affiliation: Free University Hospital Amsterdam, Department of Cardiology, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: van Rossum
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Galjee
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Post
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Visser
mesh_terms: D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass; D003326:Coronary Circulation / Q000502:physiology*; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000473:pathology*; D006085:Graft Survival; D006801:Humans; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography / Q000379:methods*; D019028:Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Cine; D012039:Regional Blood Flow; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014654:Vascular Patency