T1-weighted cine FLASH is superior to IR imaging of post-infarction myocardial viability at 4.7T.
OBJECTIVE
Data are unavailable for rational selection of pulse sequences to assess postinfarction myocardial viability in rodents at high field strength. We implemented a widely used clinical inversion recovery (IR) sequence at 4.7T and compared the results to a heavily T1-weighted cine FLASH sequence (T1-CF) for assessment of infarction size.


METHODS
Eleven infarcted rats were examined within 24 h of infarction after injection of Gadophrin-3 contrast agent. Images were acquired using both pulse sequences and a standard cine (SC) sequence. Estimates of infarct size were compared to TTC. Global LV function was compared between the T1-CF and SC sequences.


RESULTS
SNR, relative SNR, and CNR for the infarcted and normal myocardium were significantly greater for the IR sequence. Infarction size was overestimated by both sequences, but correlated highly and showed very close agreement with TTC. Global function revealed no significant differences between T1-CF and SC.


CONCLUSIONS
Both IR and T1-CF produced reliable results for assessment of infarction size at 4.7T. While the IR sequence delivers better overall SNR and CNR, the T1-CF allows concomitant assessment of global cardiac function with a much shorter acquisition time.
Thomas
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D
Department of Radiology and Medicine, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Dumont
C
C
Pickup
S
S
Misselwitz
B
B
Zhou
R
R
Horowitz
J
J
Ferrari
V A
VA