Journal of cardiovascular magnetic resonance : official journal of the Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance
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J Cardiovasc Magn Reson · Apr 2016
Comparative StudyNonenhanced hybridized arterial spin labeled magnetic resonance angiography of the extracranial carotid arteries using a fast low angle shot readout at 3 Tesla.
To evaluate ungated nonenhanced hybridized arterial spin labeling (hASL) magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) of the extracranial carotid arteries using a fast low angle shot (FLASH) readout at 3 Tesla. ⋯ Although inferior to CEMRA in terms of image quality and inter-rater agreement, hASL FLASH MRA offers an alternative to 2D TOF for the nonenhanced evaluation of the extracranial carotid arteries at 3 Tesla. Compared with 2D TOF, nonenhanced hASL FLASH MRA provides improved quantification of arterial cross-sectional area, vessel sharpness, inter-rater agreement and image quality.
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J Cardiovasc Magn Reson · Dec 2015
Multicenter StudyFree-breathing myocardial T2* mapping using GRE-EPI and automatic non-rigid motion correction.
Measurement of myocardial T2* is becoming widely used in the assessment of patients at risk for cardiac iron overload. The conventional breath-hold, ECG-triggered, segmented, multi-echo gradient echo (MGRE) sequence used for myocardial T2* quantification is very sensitive to respiratory motion and may not be feasible in patients who are unable to breath-hold. We propose a free-breathing myocardial T2* mapping approach that combines a single-shot gradient-echo echo-planar imaging (GRE-EPI) sequence for T2*-weighted image acquisition with automatic non-rigid motion correction (MOCO) of respiratory motion between single-shot images. ⋯ The free-breathing approach described for T2* mapping using MOCO GRE-EPI enables accurate myocardial and liver T2* measurements and is insensitive to respiratory motion.
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J Cardiovasc Magn Reson · Sep 2015
The effect of high-permittivity pads on specific absorption rate in radiofrequency-shimmed dual-transmit cardiovascular magnetic resonance at 3T.
Dual-channel transmit technology improves the image quality in cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) at 3 T by reducing the degree of radiofrequency (RF) shading over the heart by using RF shimming. Further improvements in image quality have been shown on a dual-transmit system using high permittivity pads. The aim of this study is to investigate the transmit field (B 1 (+)) homogeneity and the specific absorption rate (SAR) using high permittivity pads as a function of the complete range of possible RF-shim settings in order to gauge the efficacy and safety of this approach. ⋯ The combination of active (dual transmit) and passive (high permittivity pads) RF shimming shows great promise for increasing image quality for cardiac imaging at 3 T. Optimized RF-shim settings result in increased B 1 (+) homogeneity and reduced SAR with the high permittivity pads: however, there are non-optimal cases in which SAR might be underestimated, and these merit further investigation.
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J Cardiovasc Magn Reson · Sep 2015
Non-invasive determination by cardiovascular magnetic resonance of right ventricular-vascular coupling in children and adolescents with pulmonary hypertension.
Pediatric pulmonary hypertension (PH) remains a disease with high morbidity and mortality in children. Understanding ventricular-vascular coupling, a measure of how well matched the ventricular and vascular function are, may elucidate pathway leading to right heart failure. Ventricular vascular coupling ratio (VVCR), comprised of effective elastance (Ea, index of arterial load) and right ventricular maximal end-systolic elastance (Ees, index of contractility), is conventionally determined by catheterization. Here, we apply a non-invasive approach to determining VVCR in pediatric subjects with PH. ⋯ Measurement of VVCRm in pediatrics is feasible. Pulmonary vascular non-reactivity may be contribute to ventricular-vascular decoupling in severe PH. Therapeutic intervention to maintain a low vascular afterload in reactive patients may preserve right ventricular functional reserve and delay the onset of RV-PA decoupling. Use of VVCRm may have significant prognostic implication.
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J Cardiovasc Magn Reson · Aug 2015
Comparative StudyCardiac T2-mapping using a fast gradient echo spin echo sequence - first in vitro and in vivo experience.
The aim of this study was the evaluation of a fast Gradient Spin Echo Technique (GraSE) for cardiac T2-mapping, combining a robust estimation of T2 relaxation times with short acquisition times. The sequence was compared against two previously introduced T2-mapping techniques in a phantom and in vivo. ⋯ The GraSE sequence is a fast and robust sequence, combining advantages of both MESE and T2prep techniques, which promises to enable improved clinical applicability of T2-mapping in the future. Our study revealed significant differences of derived mean T2 values when applying different sequence designs. Therefore, a systematic comparison of different cardiac T2-mapping sequences and the establishment of dedicated reference values should be the goal of future studies.