Analysis of cardiac function--comparison between 1.5 Tesla and 3.0 Tesla cardiac cine magnetic resonance imaging: preliminary experience.
OBJECTIVE
We sought to assess the feasibility of magnetic resonance imaging to evaluate cardiac function at 3.0 T compared with 1.5 T.


METHODS
In a prospective intraindividual comparative study, 12 volunteers (range, 18-54 years), and 2 patients (range, 43-53 years) underwent cardiac cine magnetic resonance at both 3.0 T and 1.5 T. Data were acquired both with a steady-state free precession sequence (SSFP) and a spoiled gradient echo (SGE) sequence. If necessary, a frequency scout was used to correct for off-resonance artifacts. For both SSFP and SGE imaging, 6-mm thick retrospectively EKG-gated short axis views were acquired with equal matrix size (192 x 163) and comparable repetition time (TR). Cardiac function parameters were determined manually by a single investigator. Cardiac function parameters, signal to noise ratio (SNR), contrast to noise ratio (CNR), and the presence of artifacts were compared between the 2 magnetic field strengths. For statistical analysis, a Pearson's correlation coefficient was calculated, and a paired Student t test was used to test statistical significance.


RESULTS
Very good correlations between cardiac function parameters at 1.5 T and 3.0 T (r > 0.84, P < 0.0011) were obtained. Compared with SGE, SSFP more frequently was prone to artifacts. With SSFP/SGE at 3.0 T, a SNR gain of 9.4/16% was achieved compared with 1.5 T.


CONCLUSIONS
Functional cardiac cine magnetic resonance imaging can be regarded as equally accurate at 3.0 T compared with 1.5 T. Compared with SSFP imaging, the SGE sequence benefits more from higher field strengths and is less affected by artifacts.
Michaely
Henrik J
HJ
University Hospitals-Grosshadern, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Munich, Germany. henrik.michaely@med.uni-muenchen.de
Nael
Kambiz
K
Schoenberg
Stefan O
SO
Laub
Gerhard
G
Reiser
Maximilian F
MF
Finn
J Paul
JP
Ruehm
Stefan G
SG
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016477:Artifacts; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006321:Heart / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement; D019028:Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Cine / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity