title: Whole-heart chemical shift encoded water-fat MRI.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To develop and evaluate a free-breathing chemical-shift-encoded (CSE) spoiled gradient-recalled echo (SPGR) technique for whole-heart water-fat imaging at 3 Tesla (T).
  
  
  METHODS
  We developed a three-dimensional (3D) multi-echo SPGR pulse sequence with electrocardiographic gating and navigator echoes and evaluated its performance at 3T in healthy volunteers (N = 6) and patients (N = 20). CSE-SPGR, 3D SPGR, and 3D balanced-SSFP with chemical fat saturation were compared in six healthy subjects with images evaluated for overall image quality, level of residual artifacts, and quality of fat suppression. A similar scoring system was used for the patient datasets.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Images of diagnostic quality were acquired in all but one subject. CSE-SPGR performed similarly to SPGR with fat saturation, although it provided a more uniform fat suppression over the whole field of view. Balanced-SSFP performed worse than SPGR-based methods. In patients, CSE-SPGR produced excellent fat suppression near metal. Overall image quality was either good (7/20) or excellent (12/20) in all but one patient. There were significant artifacts in 5/20 clinical cases.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CSE-SPGR is a promising technique for whole-heart water-fat imaging during free-breathing. The robust fat suppression in the water-only image could improve assessment of complex morphology at 3T and in the presence of off-resonance, with additional information contained in the fat-only image.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Taviani
authors.forename: Diego
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hernando
authors.forename: Christopher J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Francois
authors.forename: Ann
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shimakawa
authors.forename: Karl K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Vigen
authors.forename: Scott K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Nagle
authors.forename: Mark L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Schiebler
authors.forename: Thomas M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Grist
authors.forename: Scott B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Reeder
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000465:Algorithms; D016477:Artifacts; D055424:Cardiac-Gated Imaging Techniques; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003287:Contrast Media; D005260:Female; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008536:Meglumine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D008875:Middle Aged; D009942:Organometallic Compounds; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014867:Water
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media; D009942:Organometallic Compounds; D014867:Water; C064572:gadobenic acid; D008536:Meglumine
keywords: 3D; chemical shift encoding; fat; free-breathing; water