title: Water/fat-resolved whole-heart Dixon coronary MRA: an initial comparison.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To improve coronary vessel visualization in whole-heart coronary magnetic resonance angiography (CMRA), fat suppression is typically applied. However, recent studies have shown that cardiac fat can also have diagnostic value. To enhance CMRA image quality by improved fat suppression and to provide additionally fat-only information highly resolved, dual-echo Dixon CMRA approaches have been developed.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this pilot study, approved by the institutional review board, 30 patients were investigated comparing whole-heart T1 -weighted dual-echo Dixon CMRA to conventional whole-heart fat-suppressed balanced fast field echo CMRA, integrated into a routine clinical protocol that includes the administration of gadolinium for perfusion and late enhancement measurements. Signal-to-noise-ratio, contrast-to-noise-ratio, and image quality were analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Dual-echo Dixon significantly (P<0.000001) improved image quality compared with conventional fat-suppressed balanced fast field echo CMRA. Signal-to-noise-ratio and contrast-to-noise-ratio were found to be comparable when balanced fast field echo was performed before gadolinium and dual-echo Dixon fast field echo after gadolinium administration.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Dual-echo Dixon can help to improve whole-heart CMRA image quality significantly. The additional whole-heart fat information delivered by this approach can support a number of new clinical studies addressing the diagnostic and the predictive value of intramyocardial and extramyocardial fatty deposits.
authors: Philips Research Europe, Hamburg, Germany; Department of Radiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors: Peter
authors: P
authors: Börnert
authors: Peter
authors: P
authors: Koken
authors: Kay
authors: K
authors: Nehrke
authors: Holger
authors: H
authors: Eggers
authors: Peter
authors: P
authors: Ostendorf
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000473:pathology*; D001834:Body Water / Q000166:cytology*; D017023:Coronary Angiography / Q000379:methods; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055414:Myocardial Perfusion Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013382:Subtraction Technique
keywords: CMRA; Dixon; SENSE; coronary artery; fat; water