Improved coronary artery definition with T2-weighted, free-breathing, three-dimensional coronary MRA.
BACKGROUND
Three-dimensional (3D) navigator-gated and prospectively corrected free-breathing coronary magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) allows for submillimeter image resolution but suffers from poor contrast between coronary blood and myocardium. Data collected over >100 ms/heart beat are also susceptible to bulk cardiac and respiratory motion. To address these problems, we examined the effect of a T2 preparation prepulse (T2prep) for myocardial suppression and a shortened acquisition window on coronary definition.


RESULTS
Eight healthy adult subjects and 5 patients with confirmed coronary artery disease (CAD) underwent free-breathing 3D MRA with and without T2prep and with 120- and 60-ms data-acquisition windows. The T2prep resulted in a 123% (P<0. 001) increase in contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR). Coronary edge definition was improved by 33% (P<0.001). Acquisition window shortening from 120 to 60 ms resulted in better vessel definition (11%; P<0.001). Among patients with CAD, there was a good correspondence with disease.


CONCLUSIONS
Free-breathing, T2prep, 3D coronary MRA with a shorter acquisition window resulted in improved CNR and better coronary artery definition, allowing the assessment of coronary disease. This approach offers the potential for free-breathing, noninvasive assessment of the major coronary arteries.
Botnar
R M
RM
Department of Medicine, Cardiovascular Division, Department of Radiology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. rbotnar@caregroup.harvard.edu
Stuber
M
M
Danias
P G
PG
Kissinger
K V
KV
Manning
W J
WJ
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016477:Artifacts; D003287:Contrast Media; D017023:Coronary Angiography / Q000379:methods*; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003331:Coronary Vessels; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012119:Respiration
D003287:Contrast Media