title: Accelerated free breathing ECG triggered contrast enhanced pulmonary vein magnetic resonance angiography using compressed sensing.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To investigate the feasibility of accelerated electrocardiogram (ECG)-triggered contrast enhanced pulmonary vein magnetic resonance angiography (CE-PV MRA) with isotropic spatial resolution using compressed sensing (CS).
  
  
  METHODS
  Nineteen patients (59±13 y, 11 M) referred for MR were scanned using the proposed accelerated free breathing ECG-triggered 3D CE-PV MRA sequence (FOV=340×340×110 mm3, spatial resolution=1.5×1.5×1.5 mm3, acquisition window=140 ms at mid diastole and CS acceleration factor=5) and a conventional first-pass breath-hold non ECG-triggered 3D CE-PV MRA sequence. CS data were reconstructed offline using low-dimensional-structure self-learning and thresholding reconstruction (LOST) CS reconstruction. Quantitative analysis of PV sharpness and subjective qualitative analysis of overall image quality were performed using a 4-point scale (1: poor; 4: excellent).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Quantitative PV sharpness was increased using the proposed approach (0.73±0.09 vs. 0.51±0.07 for the conventional CE-PV MRA protocol, p<0.001). There were no significant differences in the subjective image quality scores between the techniques (3.32±0.94 vs. 3.53±0.77 using the proposed technique).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CS-accelerated free-breathing ECG-triggered CE-PV MRA allows evaluation of PV anatomy with improved sharpness compared to conventional non-ECG gated first-pass CE-PV MRA. This technique may be a valuable alternative for patients in which the first pass CE-PV MRA fails due to inaccurate first pass timing or inability of the patient to perform a 20-25 seconds breath-hold.
authors.forename: Sébastien
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Roujol
authors.forename: Murilo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Foppa
authors.forename: Tamer A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Basha
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Akçakaya
authors.forename: Kraig V
authors.initials: KV
authors.lastname: Kissinger
authors.forename: Beth
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Goddu
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Berg
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine (Cardiovascular Division), Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, 330 Brookline Ave, Boston 02215, MA, USA. rnezafat@bidmc.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Reza
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nezafat
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery; D062485:Breath Holding; D055424:Cardiac-Gated Imaging Techniques; D017115:Catheter Ablation; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010690:Phlebography / Q000379:methods*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011667:Pulmonary Veins / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery; D056152:Respiratory Rate; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome