title: Investigation of the microstructure of the isolated rat heart: a comparison between T*2- and diffusion-weighted MRI.
abstract: Myocardial fiber structure can be determined with diffusion-weighted (DW) MRI as well as with high-resolution T*(2) imaging. The purpose of the present study was twofold: to provide a more quantitative description of T*(2)-based myocardial fiber contrast, and to compare the T*(2)-based fiber structure with high-resolution (78 microm in-plane, 1-mm slice thickness) DW images of the isolated rat heart at 11.75 T. This study demonstrates that the static dephasing regime is responsible for visualization of myocardial microstructure, and that the dynamic dephasing regime can be neglected. In comparison with DW experiments, T*(2) mapping and DW images yield almost equivalent information on myocardial fiber structure.
authors.affiliation: Physikalisches Institut, EP5, Universität Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany. sakoehler@physik.uni-wuerzberg.de
authors.forename: Sascha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Köhler
authors.forename: Karl-Heinz
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Hiller
authors.forename: Christiane
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Waller
authors.forename: Wolfgang R
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Bauer
authors.forename: Axel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Haase
authors.forename: Peter M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Jakob
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009206:Myocardium / Q000166:cytology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar