title: Rapid extended coverage simultaneous multisection black-blood vessel wall MR imaging.
abstract: A two-dimensional rapid extended coverage (REX) rapid acquisition with relaxation enhancement (RARE) pulse sequence for simultaneous multisection double inversion-recovery (DIR) black-blood vessel wall magnetic resonance (MR) imaging was developed. Aortic vessel wall MR imaging was performed in five healthy subjects (mean age, 33 years +/- 4 [SD]) and five patients with atherosclerotic disease (mean age, 67 years +/- 11.7). Shortening of blood inversion time and imaging of multiple sections after single DIR block resulted in simultaneous acquisition of up to 20 aortic wall sections in less than 1 minute (spatial resolution, 0.97 x 0.97 x 3 mm(3)). Higher signal-to-noise ratios per unit time per section (16.0 +/- 2.45 vs 7.5 +/- 1.10, P <.05), no significant changes in contrast-to-noise ratios (15.0 +/- 5.3 vs 20.1 +/- 3.9, P >.05), and 17-fold improvement in acquisition time compared with those at conventional single-section DIR RARE imaging was achieved. Use of the REX method significantly shortened aortic imaging acquisition times without degrading image quality.
authors.affiliation: Imaging Science Laboratories, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, One Gustave L. Levy Place, Box 1234, New York, NY 10029-6574, USA.
authors.forename: Venkatesh
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Mani
authors.forename: Vitalii V
authors.initials: VV
authors.lastname: Itskovich
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Szimtenings
authors.forename: Juan Gilberto S
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Aguinaldo
authors.forename: Daniel D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Samber
authors.forename: Gabor
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mizsei
authors.forename: Zahi A
authors.initials: ZA
authors.lastname: Fayad
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001011:Aorta / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000473:pathology; D001018:Aortic Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis; D001161:Arteriosclerosis / Q000175:diagnosis; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male